Chennai, Aug 10 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen the property of Ashok Kumar, brother of arrested Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji, said officials on Thursday.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths had conducted a search at the sprawling property of Ashok Kumar at Andankoil east on the Karur- Salem road in Karur.

There were allegations that Ashok Kumar was constructing a huge mansion using the funds of Senthil Balaji on 2.49 acres of land.

The property was registered in the name of Nirmala, wife of Ashok Kumar and was registered in Melakarur Sub Registrar office.

The property was gifted to Nirmala by her mother, Lakshmi who had reportedly purchased it from a person by clearing a huge loan availed from a bank. The ED officials had earlier sent a notice to Nirmala to appear before the officials on Wednesday, but after she did not turn up, the department then issued a notice to freeze the property.

The Enforcement Directorate has served a notice to Nirmala, wife of Ashok Kumar, said Brijesh Beniwal, the assistant director of the department, adding that the action of freezing the property has been taken under Section 17 (1-A) of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

The action, according to the notice, was endorsed by Piyush Yadav, Joint Director of the Enforcement Directorate.

Sources told IANS that the ED has already sent a communication to the Sub Registrar's office, Mela Karur on the action taken by the department in freezing the property of Nirmala.

Senthil Balaji was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a case related to the job-for-cash scam on June 14. He is currently in five-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and was interrogated for the third consecutive day on Thursday.