Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, a former school education minister in Tamil Nadu, was added as an accused on Wednesday in an alleged private school approval fraud case and appeared before the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Greater Chennai Police on Friday morning. The CCB questioned him for nearly eight hours. He was summoned after his name was added to the FIR in a separate sheet, and searches were conducted at nine places linked to him in Chennai and Tiruchy. The searches lasted more than eight hours.

Police said money was collected from 177 private schools for securing government approvals. The case was registered based on a complaint lodged with the Greater Chennai Police Commissioner. The investigation invoked provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. A police press note said Mahesh was questioned about alleged links with accused persons, his interactions with private school managements, and the alleged collection of "party fund" from school managements.

Reports differed on the alleged amount and accused. One report said the fraud involved at least ₹100 crore. Another said around ₹18 crore was allegedly collected from private schools, resulting in breach of trust and financial fraud. One report said three people — B.T. Arasakumar, Suresh and Raja — were arrested. Another said Mahesh was questioned about alleged links with two accused, B.T. Arasakumar and Muthukumar.

After the inquiry, Mahesh said police seized 118 documents but they were not relevant to the case, according to one report. DMK chief M K Stalin described the searches as an act of "political vendetta," according to one report.