Former Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh was arrested in Chennai after the Madras High Court rejected his anticipatory bail petition in a corruption case involving alleged payments for permanent recognition and construction-related approvals for private schools, according to a report by Dinamalar.
The Chennai Central Crime Branch registered a case against Mahesh under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act after a complaint alleged irregularities in granting permanent recognition to private schools and securing construction permissions. Police have alleged that more than Rs 100 crore was collected from private-school administrators.
The case had earlier led to the arrest of P.T. Arasakumar, identified in the report as president of a private schools association and deputy chairman of the DMK communications committee, on June 27. Based on his statement, police also arrested former MLA Muthukum ar and two others, the report said. Police subsequently identified 177 private-school administrators in connection with the alleged collection of money.
Searches were conducted at the homes, offices and school premises of people connected with the case, as well as at the Directorate of School Education campus in Chennai’s DPI complex. Police said they seized documents, private-school records, financial records, mobile phones, computers, hard disks and other electronic evidence during the searches.
The investigation later extended to properties linked to Mahesh in Chennai and Tiruchirappalli, and to locations associated with his aide Valadi Karthik. Searches at Mahesh’s residence on Greenways Road in Chennai, an office in T Nagar, Karthik’s residence in Alwarpet and a house in Tennur Anna Nagar, Tiruchirappalli, resulted in the seizure of laptops, computers and digital documents, according to the report.
Mahesh appeared before the Chennai police commissioner for questioning after receiving a summons. Investigators questioned him for eight hours and recorded answers to 246 questions, the report said. Police also examined an audio recording recovered from the residence of former MLA Muthukum ar. The report said the recording referred to an alleged collection of Rs 420 crore, including amounts purportedly linked to Muthukum ar, Arasakumar and Mahesh. These figures form part of the investigating agency’s allegations and have not been established by a court.
During the hearing on Mahesh’s anticipatory bail plea, his senior counsel Wilson argued that the police had not obtained the required permission from the competent authority before registering the case under the anti-corruption law. The defence also said Mahesh had cooperated with the investigation and would neither flee nor influence witnesses.
Tamil Nadu’s Chief Criminal Public Prosecutor John Sathyan opposed the plea, arguing that the allegations were serious, that the investigation was at an early stage and that custodial questioning was necessary to trace alleged money transfers. The prosecution also said Muthukum ar was absconding and that as much as Rs 400 crore may have been collected in the matter.
Justice V. Lakshminarayanan accepted the prosecution’s submission that the investigation was at an early stage and dismissed the anticipatory bail petition. Police then arrested Mahesh at his apartment in Aminjikarai, Chennai, and took him to the commissioner’s office for further questioning, the report said.
DMK president M.K. Stalin described the arrest as politically motivated and said Mahesh would face the allegations through legal channels. The police investigation and court proceedings are continuing.
