Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi (Middle) after his arrest by Central Crime Branch police on Monday
CHENNAI: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Chennai police on Monday arrested former Tamil Nadu school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi in connection with an alleged Rs 100crore scam involving the issuance of recognition and other statutory clearances to private schools.A CCB team reached his apartment in Aminjikarai and arrested him after Madras high court dismissed his anticipatory bail application.The case was registered based on a complaint lodged by D C Elangovan, secretary of the Federation of Associations of Private Schools in Tamil Nadu. In his complaint, Elangovan alleged that B T Arasakumar and Muthukumar, who claimed to be the founder-president and treasurer, respectively, of the Tamil Nadu Private Schools Association, an unregistered organisation, had collected more than Rs 100 crore from private school managements.The accused allegedly promised to secure permanent recognition from govt, approvals for upgrading schools, Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) clearances and other statutory permissions. The money was collected under the guise of contributions towards "party funds" for DMK, which was in power at the time.Arasakumar claimed to have contacts within the govt and assured private school administrators that he could arrange the required permissions.
However, he neither fulfilled his promises nor returned the money.The CCB initially registered a case against Arasakumar under Section 7 (acceptance or demand of a bribe) and Section 12 (abetment of offences) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.Arasakumar was arrested by the CCB on June 27. Based on subsequent inquiries, investigators began probing the involvement of Anbil Mahesh, who was the school education minister at the time.On Sept 16, CCB teams conducted searches at nine locations in Chennai and Trichy, including four premises linked to Mahesh, and seized several documents. Similar searches were carried out on Sept 29.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Oct 1 in connection with the alleged racket.