A close aide of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami was arrested on Sunday - November 28 in connection to cheating and swindling money with the fake promises of acquiring government jobs. According to reports, Nadupatti Mani had been serving as a personal assistant to Edappadi Palaniswami for ten years and he is a native of Salem. He had used his contact with Palaniswami when the latter was the Chief Minister and gave fake promises and cheated several people. 

Mani was arrested based on the complaint moved by 28-year-old Tamilselvan of Neyveli in Cuddalore. In his complaint, Tamilselvan had alleged that Mani and another ADMK functionary Selvakumar had taken Rs 17 lakh from him with the promise of getting him an assistant engineer job in the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC). However, they had failed to keep the promise and threatened Tamilselvan when he asked them to repay the money. 

Based on his complaint, the Salem District Crime Branch (DCB) had registered a case under 120B - punishment for criminal conspiracy), 420 - cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property of IPC of the IPC against Mani and Selvakumar. According to reports, Mani had scammed a total of 32 individuals with the same promise of acquiring government jobs when the ADMK was in power. In his complaint, Tamilselvan noted that Mani and Selvakumar had paid Rs 4 lakh to him and while he asked to pay the rest of Rs 13 lakh, they had threatened him. 

After knowing that the case was registered against them, Mani and Selvakumar had moved their anticipatory bail petition to the Salem court. As it was dismissed by the Salem Court, they had appealed to the Madras High Court only to witness another rejection. Following the rejection, the duo had absconded and the police had formed four special teams to nab them. Based on the input that Mani had come to his farmhouse in Salem on Sunday, the police had arrived there and apprehended Mani. 

Mani was then taken under custody for further investigations into the scams. The Salem police have said that they had arrested Mani near Theevattipatti while his friend Selvakumar has still been on the run. Our sources say that Mani, during his initial days, had worked in a ration shop and he was dismissed under the charges of the cheating following which, he joined Edappadi Palaniswami as his personal assistant. 

Mani had served as a personal assistant for Palaniswami for a decade including his tenure as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. As he was at Palaniswami's residence, he used it as a token of advance to show his proximity to the Chief Minister and had given several fake promises. Mani had cheated over a hundred people and swindled over Rs 4 crore from them. It has been reported that as the first complainant Tamil Selvan had come out against Mani, several more complaints against Mani will be filed by the people who were affected by his fake promises.