Former Tamil Nadu school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi was arrested by the Central Crime Branch of Chennai Police on Monday in connection with an alleged Rs 100 crore racket involving the issuance of recognition and statutory clearances to private schools.
A CCB team arrested Poyyamozhi at his apartment in Aminjikarai after the Madras high court dismissed his anticipatory bail application. The arrest follows a police investigation into allegations that private-school managements were asked to pay money to obtain permanent recognition, approvals for upgrading schools, Directorate of Town and Country Planning clearances and other permissions.
The case was registered following a complaint by D C Elangovan, secretary of the Federation of Associations of Private Schools in Tamil Nadu. According to the complaint, B T Arasakumar and Muthukumar, who allegedly presented themselves as the founder-president and treasurer of the Tamil Nadu Private Schools Association, collected more than Rs 100 crore from school managements.
The organisation was described in the complaint as unregistered. The two men allegedly told school administrators that the money was being collected as contributions towards party funds and claimed they had contacts within the government. They allegedly promised to arrange statutory approvals but did not fulfil those assurances or return the money, according to the allegations cited in the case.
The initial CCB case was registered against Arasakumar under Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, relating to acceptance or demand of a bribe and abetment of offences. The CCB arrested him on June 27. Investigators later began examining the alleged involvement of Poyyamozhi, who was serving as school education minister at the time covered by the investigation.
The developments place the private-school approval system at the centre of the investigation. Recognition and permissions determine whether schools can legally operate, expand or add facilities, while DTCP clearances form part of the statutory approval process linked to land use and development. The allegations therefore involve not only an alleged financial racket but also the functioning of regulatory channels used by educational institutions.
CCB teams conducted searches at nine locations in Chennai and Tiruchirappalli on September 16, including four premises linked to Poyyamozhi, and seized documents, according to the report. Similar searches were carried out on September 29. The searches and document seizures preceded the arrest and form part of the investigation into the alleged network.
The Enforcement Directorate registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on October 1 in connection with the alleged racket. The ED case adds a financial-investigation component to the police proceedings. The allegations remain subject to investigation and legal proceedings, and the arrest does not establish guilt. The next steps will depend on the CCB investigation, the money-laundering probe and proceedings before the courts.
