The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday conducted searches against Tamil Nadu electricity minister V Senthil Balaji and some others as part of a money laundering investigation and held multi-city searches, prompting chief minister MK Stalin to slam BJP for “backdoor intimidation” of political rivals, as he charged the ED with “political intention” behind its action.

Official sources said searches were conducted here and Balaji’s native Karur, besides in Erode. The minister’s office room at the state Secretariat here was among the locations raided by the ED officials.

This was the second time in five years that officials belonging to a central probe agency held searches inside the Secretariat. Income-Tax authorities had conducted searches at the seat of power in December 2016 as part of its action against then Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao, days after the death of then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

Balaji, DMK strongman from Karur district, said he was not aware of what the officials had come searching for at his premises and assured to extend total cooperation in the probe.