Coordinator of fringe outfit held in Coimbatore for conning Rs 2 cr

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore crime branch police on Saturday arrested Athma Sivakumar, coordinator of VOC Makkal Iyakkam for conning several persons of over Rs 2 crore by promising government jobs.

Police said Sivakumar (53) from Lakshmi Nagar in Kavundampalayam claimed himself to be an AIADMK party functionary with close links to then chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and other ministers had lured many into the job scam trap.

He collected up to Rs 10 lakh each from around 68 persons promising jobs in transport, revenue, agriculture, horticulture and other government departments. In his complaint, Marisamy, from Sathyamangalam in Erode district said he gave Rs 8 lakh to Sivakumar to get the post of a Village Administrative Officer (VAO).

However, as he failed to honour his promise despite repeated pleas, Marisamy lodged a complaint with police in Coimbatore. Inquiries by police revealed that Sivakumar had conned several others of around Rs 2.17 crore from across Coimbatore, The Nilgiris, Tirupur and Erode districts. The crime branch police registered a case against Sivakumar and his relatives Sathyabama, Manikandan, Jayakrishnan and Subramani in connection with the fraud and a search was on to nab them all.

Acting on a tip, the crime branch police arrested Sivakumar on Saturday. He had invested the conned amount in the real estate sector and therefore police have taken efforts to retrieve the properties bought through the conned money. Police have also secured one more accused Subramani and further inquiries are on.