Enforcement Directorate has arrested filmmaker Madhan for money laundering on Tuesady.
A Chennai-based film producer who faces charges of fixing medical seats on the side is back in trouble. S Madhan has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on charges of laundering crores of rupees allegedly collected last year from students aspiring to get into a medical college.
Mr Madhan of Vendhar Movies was first arrested by the police in November last year, ending a six-month long search that had police teams criss-crossing several states including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Manipur. In the end, the producer was tracked down to a house in the textile city of Tirupur, about 500 km from Tamil Nadu capital Chennai.
But he spent more time on the run, than in jail.
ED officials said the producer, released on bail earlier this year, was called in for questioning on Tuesday by the directorate that probes financial crimes. He was later placed under arrest.
Mr Madhan is alleged to have collected 91 crores as the capitation fee from students hoping to get admission to two medical colleges in the state including SRM University. ED officials said the police probe had indicated the money was invested to buy pieces of land in different parts of the country including Chennai, Rishikesh, Haridwar and also in Kerala.
Chennai police had arrested the SRM group founder-chairman TR Pachamuthu also in this case after a nudge from the high court. The Indiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK), a political party floated by Mr Pachamuthu who heads the 10,000 crore group, is an ally of NDA at the Centre. The group has a chain of engineering and medical colleges across India.