Almost four years after registering an FIR, Chennai’s Central Crime Branch police arrested a former IAS officer on Wednesday for cheating people with false job promises.
The police held V Mohanraj, former Deputy Secretary in the state Transport department based on a complaint filed by Dr A Nisar Ahammed from Nungambakkam, Chennai. In his complaint, Nisar had alleged that Mohanraj collected Rs 50 lakh from him in 2013 on the promise that he would obtain a medical seat for his daughter in a private medical college within 15 days of receiving the amount. Since he could not fulfil his promise even after many months, Nisar demanded his money back. The cheques issued by Mohanraj also bounced following which Nisar approached the police with a complaint. However, after the police refused to file an FIR against Mohanraj since he was a serving IAS officer back then, Nisar approached the court which ordered the police to file a complaint in 2015. Following this, the government of Tamil Nadu had also initiated disciplinary action against Mohanraj.
Mohanraj had filed for anticipatory bail in 2015, which was dismissed by the Madras high court.
According to a report in New Indian Express, Mohanraj retired from service in 2017 and had been absconding before he was finally arrested on Wednesday. Upon questioning, it was found that Mohanraj was also involved in a fake job racket in Thiruvannamalai district in 2015 and 2016. He, along with one K Nagappan, had collected more than Rs 5 crore from around 106 people in Thiruvannamalai, promising them jobs in the Tamil Nadu transport department.
Nagappan was arrested in September. Mohanraj’s role in the job racket came to light when one of the victims filed a writ petition seeking detailed inquiry in the matter.
According to the police, Mohanraj and Nagappan became friends during Mohanraj’s tenure as the deputy secretary and Nagappan claimed to be an IAS officer. After a while, though Mohanraj realised that Nagappan was an imposter, he allowed Nagappan to use his chamber in the Secretariat to operate the racket and cheat people.