Two Held in Villivakkam for Impersonating Minister to Extort MLA

The Villivakkam police in Chennai on Tuesday arrested two men for allegedly impersonating minister Aadhav Arjuna and trying to extort Rs 8 crore from Vellore MLA MM Vinoth Kannan under the pretense of securing him a cabinet post.

The arrested suspects were identified by police as M Ruben Raj, aged 27, residing in Virupatchipuram in Vellore, and K Sakthi Arjun, aged 21, residing in Tiruvottiyur in Chennai. During the operation, law enforcement officials seized two mobile phones and a CPU used by the duo. Both men were produced before a city court in Chennai on Tuesday and subsequently remanded in judicial custody.

Police officials stated that the extortion attempt first came to light after a formal complaint was lodged by Niswak, who serves as the legal representative for minister Aadhav Arjuna. Following the complaint, the Villivakkam police registered a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.

During the course of the investigation, officers discovered that the scheme began in the last week of July. Ruben and Sakthi allegedly informed Dayalan, a person who runs a catering business in Vellore, that they had close access to minister Aadhav Arjuna. They claimed they could facilitate the appointment of Vellore MLA MM Vinoth Kannan as a minister if an amount of Rs 8 crore was paid.

Believing the statement made by the two suspects, Dayalan communicated the proposal to the MLA's office through Venkatesh, who is also a resident of Vellore.

To establish credibility for their demand, Ruben allegedly used his laptop to generate a fraudulent email account carrying the minister's name. He then dispatched an email and forwarded a screenshot of a purported confirmation message through WhatsApp to Venkatesh, intending for it to be presented as genuine evidence to the MLA.

The plan unraveled when MLA MM Vinoth Kannan grew suspicious regarding the specific manner in which the email and message were drafted. Seeking clarification, the lawmaker requested to speak directly with the minister through a video call. During that video conversation, the fraudulent nature of the email and the impersonation attempt were completely exposed. Police said that further investigation into the case is currently under way.