The police took the action after a couple from Kumbakonam, Feroz Banu and Zafarullah, lodged a complaint against the brothers with then Thanjavur SP Deshmukh Sekhar Sanjay on July 21.
The ‘helicopter brothers’ of Kumbakonam, MR Ganesh and MR Swaminathan, who are accused of cheating people of Rs 600 crore, were nabbed by the Thanjavur district crime branch officials from a hideout in Pudukkotai on Thursday.
The police took the action after a couple from Kumbakonam, Feroz Banu and Zafarullah, lodged a complaint against the brothers with then Thanjavur SP Deshmukh Sekhar Sanjay on July 21.
The couple claimed that they had deposited Rs 15 crore in the financial entity owned by the brothers but never got back the deposited amount or the promised profit. They alleged that when they asked for the money, the brothers threatened them citing their political affiliations.
Based on a tip-off, the police officials reached a farmhouse in Vendanpatti in Pudukkotai on Thursday and arrested both Ganesh and Swaminathan. They are being interrogated at an undisclosed area.
On July 21, an FIR was registered and special teams were formed by the district crime branch officials. Five people – Srikanthan and Venkatesan, who were managers of the financial entity run by the brothers, MR Ganesh’s wife Akhila, accountants Meera and her brother Sriram were arrested. The police also seized 12 luxury cars owned by the brothers.
The accused have been booked under sections 406, 420, 120 (b) of the IPC.
Officers told indianexpress.com that the brothers, who are natives of Tiruvarur, settled in Kumbakonam in the posh Sri Nagar Colony five to six years ago and started a dairy business with cows of foreign breed. Over the years, they expanded their business and they started a financial entity called ‘Victory Finance’. They later launched an aviation company, ‘Arjun Aviation (OPC) Private Limited’. Later, Ganesh joined the BJP and was appointed as the Thanjavur (North) BJP Traders’ wing leader till he was removed from the post following the complaints.
The police said the brothers had been collecting money from people for the past few years with the promise of doubling them in 12 months. Initially, the assured payments were made but later, they began to default. Some of them who asked for money were threatened. Finally, agents and the public struck posters across Kumbakonam accusing the brothers of swindling Rs 600 crore and registered a police complaint.
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