CHENNAI: Hours after the Madras High Court denied anticipatory bail in a multi-crore private schools approval fraud case, DMK leader and former school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi was arrested by the Greater Chennai Police on Monday. This is the first arrest of a minister from the previous regime in a corruption case after Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay-led government came to power.
A CCB team arrested Mahesh from his advocate's office in Aminjikarai, and subsequently took him to the police commissioner's office in Vepery for questioning. Officials said he would be produced before a court after interrogation.
The CCB had booked Mahesh on corruption charges on September 18 in continuation of its probe into the alleged fraud perpetrated by his associates. The police had searched at nine locations in Chennai and Tiruchy linked to him and his associates, Valadi Karthik, Arun Prakash, and Prakash, and seized about 118 documents, including property documents, bank account statements, cheque books, 18 mobile phones, three laptops, eight pen drives, two desktops, a tablet, and an iPad.
A second round of searches were conducted on September 29 at five locations in Chennai in houses of aides of the former minister. Officials had seized 44 documents and a laptop at the end of the search.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by DC Elangovan, secretary of the Federation of Associations of Private Schools in Tamil Nadu, with the city police, alleging that a network had collected several crores from private school managements after promising to secure government approvals, including permanent recognition, upgradation, DTCP clearance and other statutory clearances.
Based on the complaint, the CCB registered a case and arrested the prime accused, BT Arasakumar (59) of Saligramam, on June 27. Two other accused, Suresh and Raja, were arrested later.
The allegations of rampant corruption in the department under Mahesh echoed in the Assembly when Finance Minister N Marie Wilson said he had direct experience.
DMK president MK Stalin on Monday condemned the arrest of former School Education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, alleging that it was driven by political animosity on the part of the TVK-led government. In a statement on X, Stalin said Anbil Mahesh had been cooperating with the inquiry. He alleged that the ruling party was using the arrest to divert public attention, even temporarily, from the deteriorating law and order situation and administrative shortcomings. "Anbil Mahesh will legally face the case. Meanwhile, the TVK-led government's attempt to divert public anger through such arrests will not succeed," Stalin said.