The arrest of SRM University chancellor T.R. Pachamuthu comes just days after the Madras High Court rapped the police for shoddy investigation in the cheating case filed based on complaints from parents of medical course aspirants against him and missing film producer Madhan.
The court had specifically asked the police why Mr. Pachamuthu, a suspect in the case, was not questioned and warned that the probe in the case would be transferred to an external agency.
Mr. Pachamuthu came under scanner soon after his close aide and founder of Vendhar Movies Madhan had gone missing in late May after leaving behind a ‘suicide’ note in which he claimed to have handed over money collected from aspirants of medical courses with the SRM group of institutions.
While Mr. Pachamuthu had filed a complaint accusing Madhan of having illegally collected the money, 111 complaints were received from parents who allegedly paid varying sums running into several lakhs for admission into medical courses in colleges run by the SRM group. A section of parents had in their complaints named Mr. Pachamuthu and had accused him of cheating.
Police, who interrogated Mr. Pachamuthu till midnight on Thursday and again on Friday morning, said they found prima facie evidence of his involvement in cheating aspirants of medical courses Rs. 74.39 crore.
They booked him for offences under Sections 406 (Punishment for criminal breach of trust.), 420(Cheating) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. They accused him of colluding with Madhan to collect money from the aspirants.
Medical examinationSoon after his arrest around noon, Pachamuthu was taken to the Government Royapettah General Hospital where he was thoroughly examined by doctors at the request of the investigating officer. A heavy posse of police cordoned off the entire the hospital.
Nearly three hours later, he was taken to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital where cardiologists examined him.
A senior doctor at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital said Mr. Pachamuthu had been referred to the hospital from the Government Royapettah Hospital for an opinion, with a history of chest pain and an angiogram report. “He was not admitted. He was taken to the CCU of the cardiology department where he underwent investigations. All tests results were found to be normal and he was sent back to Government Royapettah Hospital,” she said.
Around 8.30 pm, after doctors certified him to be medically fit, he was taken to the residence of the judicial magistrate at the judicial officers’ quarters in Saidapet for remand where his lawyers filed petitions opposing his arrest.
Cadres of Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi staged a protest outside the residence of the judge protesting his arrest.
(With additional inputs from Zubeda Hamid)
