Palani, Oct 7:
The CB-CID has arrested two more persons in connection with the alleged ₹100-crore land scam involving property belonging to the Dhandayuthapani Swamy Mutt in Palani.
The latest arrests are Sivasankari, a junior assistant at the Sub-Registrar’s Office, and advocate Sivakumar, who is alleged to have assisted document writer Jayaprakash in the case. They are being interrogated by the CB-CID.
The case relates to the alleged fraudulent registration of land belonging to the Dhandayuthapani Swamy Mutt. The property, valued at around ₹100 crore, was allegedly registered in favour of two private individuals. The CB-CID has so far questioned more than 100 people and conducted searches at several locations, recovering documents.
Earlier, Sub-Registrar Justin Manikandan, teacher Murugadas of Villupuram, buyers Vellaithurai of Pappankulam near Udumalpet and Sethupathi of Palani, advocate Anwardeen and document writer Jayaprakash of Oddanchatram were arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
Anwardeen later died while lodged in Madurai Central Prison. The other five accused remain in Madurai prison. Their bail pleas were dismissed by the Dindigul court and subsequently by the Supreme Court, according to the report.
The CB-CID had earlier taken document writer Jayaprakash into custody for two days for questioning. Investigators also seized a computer and hard disk from his residence and examined them to find out whether others were involved in the alleged fraud.
The investigators had been looking for five other persons, including another document writer, Sivakumar. The CB-CID had also been monitoring the movements of the families of those arrested and examining their mobile phone records, WhatsApp conversations, social media posts, bank accounts and digital transactions.
The agency had earlier planned to file a chargesheet based on the investigation, as all the key accused were believed to have been arrested. However, investigators had not yet established the identity of the alleged mastermind or others who may have been behind the operation. The latest arrests indicate that the probe is continuing.This version keeps the latest arrests as the lead while retaining the key background and investigation details.