Former TN school ed minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi arrested in ₹100-cr fraud case

FORMER school education minister and senior DMK leader Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi was arrested by the Central Crime Branch police personnel in Chennai on Monday in an alleged case of financial fraud of ₹100 crore.

Poyyamozhi, the DMK's Tiruchirappalli South district secretary, was arrested by the police personnel in Aminjikarai at his office in Chennai.

The development came after the Madras High Court earlier in the day dismissed the anticipatory bail petition of Poyyamozhi in connection with the alleged scam in which several crores of rupees were collected from the management of private schools to give away approvals and recognition.

Poyyamozhi was one of the accused in collecting money under 'party funds' from over 1,000 private schools during the previous Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam regime, where he was the minister for school education.

He was also booked under the Prevention of Corruption act.

Raids in various locations

The Enforcement Directorate also registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to investigate the alleged financial irregularities related to the scam.

In September, the Enforcement Directorate conducted raids in various locations belonging to Poyyamozhi in Tiruchirappalli and Chennai and recovered various digital evidences. He was later interrogated in Chennai for over 10 hours.