Former TN school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi arrested in ₹100-crore fraud case

Former Tamil Nadu school education minister and senior DMK leader Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi was arrested by the Central Crime Branch police on Monday in an alleged ₹100-crore financial fraud case, police said.

The arrest came hours after the Madras High Court dismissed his anticipatory bail petition in a case involving alleged payments collected from private school managements in exchange for approvals and recognition.

According to the Crime Branch, Poyyamozhi allegedly collected money in the name of "party funds" from more than 1,000 private schools during the previous Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government, when he was the school education minister. He was also booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The Enforcement Directorate registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in September to investigate alleged financial irregularities linked to the case. The agency also interrogated Poyyamozhi for 10 hours in Chennai.

A police officer familiar with the case said the FIR was registered in June 2026, a month after the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) replaced the DMK in Tamil Nadu. Three other persons -- B T Arasakumar, Suresh and Raja -- were arrested last month, the officer said.

After his arrest, Poyyamozhi was taken to the police commissionerate for interrogation, the officer added.

The arrest triggered a political exchange, with the TVK's IT wing demanding a response from DMK chief M K Stalin over the allegations. "Stalin sir who cannot be caught? Were you sleeping while in power? When your ministers have racked up so many corruption cases why are you just flapping your mouth like a Bengal monitor lizard?" the IT wing posted on X.

Poyyamozhi's advocate and DMK functionary Prasanna alleged that the arrest was driven by "political vendetta".

Speaking to reporters, he said, "the Supreme Court has clearly laid down the law that, at the very least, an accused person's advocate has the right to be present. The police have taken him (Poyyamozhi) away, claiming that an advocate cannot be allowed."

BJP Tamil Nadu spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy also questioned the circumstances surrounding the arrest. In a social media post, he referred to a challenge allegedly issued by Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin in the legislative Assembly, asking the TVK government to produce evidence and arrest those accused of wrongdoing.

"What kind of anger do they (TVK government) have against Anbil Mahesh," he asked.