CHENNAI: The city police have arrested two men for allegedly attempting to extort Rs 8 crore by impersonating a Tamil Nadu minister and using a fake email account to promise a ministerial post to a Vellore MLA.
Police identified the arrested as Ruben Raj (27), of Virupatchipuram in Vellore district, and Sakthi Arjun (21), of Tiruvottiyur in Chennai. Two mobile phones and a CPU were seized from them.
According to police, a complaint was lodged by Niswak alleging that a person identified as Venkatesh had created a fake email account in the name of the Tamil Nadu Public Works and Sports Development Minister. The accused allegedly used the account and fabricated electronic documents to circulate false information as part of a criminal conspiracy.
During the investigation, police found that in July 2026, Ruben Raj and Sakthi Arjun allegedly told Dayalan, who was known to Venkatesh, that they had access to the minister and could secure a ministerial post for a Vellore MLA in return for Rs 8 crore.
Dayalan reportedly passed on the information to the MLA's office through Venkatesh.
Police said Ruben Raj used a laptop to create a fake email ID in the minister's name. He allegedly took a screenshot of a purported confirmation message received from the account and sent it to Venkatesh through WhatsApp to make the claim appear genuine.
The MLA from Vellore became suspicious and spoke to the men through a group video call. The alleged impersonation and attempt to collect money using the fake email were subsequently detected.
Following an investigation and search, Villivakkam police arrested Ruben Raj and Sakthi Arjun. They were produced before a court on Tuesday and remanded in judicial custody.