SALEM: The personal assistant of former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has been accused of collecting lakhs of rupees from scores of people after assuring them government jobs. The issue came to light on Monday, when a person lodged a complaint with Superintendent of Police (SP) M Sree Abhinav.
In the complaint, R Selvakumar of Semmandapatti alleged that Palaniswami’s PA M Mani directed him and his friend, C Sivakumar, to collect money from people who were looking for government jobs.
“We collected Rs 1.37 crore from 32 persons and handed it over to Mani in 2019-20. We collected Rs 3 lakh for clerk posts and Rs 15 lakh for APRO and AE in TNEB posts. But he did not get them jobs. When we asked him to return the money, he gave Rs 60 lakhs in several instalments and then started threatening us,”
Selvakumar stated in the complaint. The complaint has been forwarded to Crime Branch Deputy Superintendent of Police (SP) Ilamurugan who started inquiry with Selvakumar and his friend.
Sources said inquiries would be conducted with all 32 persons who gave money for the jobs. Mani was not available for a response.