States » SouthPosted at: Nov 11 2026 3:34PM


Key absconding accused surrenders in Rs 100-400 cr school fraud case linked to Ex-DMK Minister

Chennai, Nov 11 (UNI) A key absconding accused in the Rs 100-400 crore private school fraud case linked to senior DMK leader and former Tamil Nadu School Education Miniser Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, surrendered before a Special Court for Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) cases in Chennai, on Wednesday.
His surrender comes a day after the Special Court dismissed the regular bail plea of the former Minister.
Saravanan was said to be the key accused and during the hearing in the case, the CCB police said he was the one who had carried the money to the residence of Anbil Mahesh and that they have video evidence about it.
The CCB, while opposing bail for Anbil, informed the court that the ex-Minister has to be interrogated in custody again as more details have emerged during his earlier 3-day questioning in custody and that Saravanan too needs to the questioned to identify the money trail (called as Party funds, an euphemism for corruption coined by the TVK regime) and the real beneficiaries.
In this context, he presented himself before the Court along with his advocates and surrendered.
He was the second accused to surrender in the multi-crore graft case after former DMK MLA Muthukumar, a key suspect and cited as
the 3rd accused, surrendered before the court a few days back and the CCB had raised doubts about its timing. It said there are several reasons surrounding his surrender and that he should also be questioned to collect more evidences and his links with the former Minister.
The Special Court Judge L.S.Sathyamoorthy yesterday dismissed the bail plea of Anbil Mahesh holding that the inquiry was at a preliminary stage. The Judge noted that statements from witnesses, including school correspondents and managers, were recorded by
the investigating officer and the Judicial Magistrate and that examination of these statements indicated prime facie link between the former Minister and the offence.
The Judge also observed that the materials collected so far indicated that substantial amount of money had been extorted through deception and threats and dismissed the bail plea holding that the welfare and education of school children outweighed the bail claim
at this stage.
Anbil Mahesh was arrested by the CCB police on October 26 hours after the Madras High Court dismissed his anticipatory bail petition in the graft case, which according to the investigators could cross Rs.400 crores.
He was the first ex-DMK Minister to be arrested in a corruption case after the TVK government headed by Chief Minister Vijay assumed office in May and started digging into various corrupt activities involving former Ministers during the previous DMK regime.
Police said the arrest was based on the material evidences collected during the raids conducted at Anbil's locations and those connected with him.
The case was registered under Sections 316(5) (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) and 318(4) (cheating that dishonestly induces a person to deliver property), read with Section 3(5) (joint liability arising from common intention), of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Mahesh was also accused of collecting money from more than 1,000 private school managements in the guise of a "party fund" during his tenure as school education minister from 2021 to 2026.
So far, five others, including former DMK MLA V Muthukumar, the prime accused BT Arasakumar, and three others, including Saravanan, were arrested in the case.
A total of six people were cited as accused in the case. Apart from Anbil, the other five are Arasakumar, Vaalaadi Karthik, who is said to be the brother of the ex-Minister and was yet to be traced, Muthukumar, also a long time friend of Anbil Mahesh, his driver Suresh and one Saravanan, who according to police had carried the money to Anbil's house.
The CCB registered an FIR alleging that over Rs.100 crore was illegally collected from private school managements as a "party fund" in exchange for statutory clearances and recognition during the previous DMK regime. Police quoting further investigsations reveal that the money trail could touch over Rs 400 crores.
It may be noted that two weeks after raids by police and questioning and a day after the court had refused interim relief on October 1, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) stepped in to probe the money laundering angle in the case.
The ED took up the probe based on the FIR registered by the CCB police on September 16 to examine the alleged illegal financial transactions and the money trail in the case and the possible money laundering angle. The ED probe is expected to focus on the alleged financial transactions and whether the proceeds of the alleged offence would attract provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
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