CHENNAI: Prime accused in the school teacher attack case, D Arulanandhu, arrested on Sunday night in Tiruchy, was remanded to judicial custody until December 15 by a city court here on Monday.
Police have also seized four luxury cars - Bentley, Jaguar, Range Rover and Mercedes - from the possession of Arunanandhu, the Managing Director of Rich India property firm.
A special team of the city police, led by Deputy Commissioner (CCB-I) S Jayakumar, secured Arulanandhu from a farm house owned by one Francis in Ariyamangalam village under Manikandam Police limits in Tiruchy.
Ever since the attack on the physical education teacher of Loyola Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Kodambakkam, on November 20, Arulanandhu had switched off his mobile phones.
The police team zeroed in on the mobile phones that he was using, and several smaller teams trailed him to Tiruchy, Kodaikanal, Puducherry, Ambasamudram, Dindigul, Tenkasi, Courtrallam, and Bengaluru.
“He would have evaded the arrest this time as well, as the locals initially claimed that the farmhouse was unoccupied for some time. However, our investigators noticed fresh tire tread inside the premises, which aroused suspicion. The suspect had even posted informers for about a 2 km radius around the farm house to tip him off about the movement of any strangers,” said an official part of the team.
With his arrest, the number of arrests in this case has reached 36, and only his brother, Sebastian, and executives Vijayakumar and Mohideen are are still at large. Police said the role of Arulanandhu’s wife Aruna in the assault and criminal trespass into the school is being assessed.
S Bhaskar Raj, the physical education instructor of Loyola Matriculation Higher Secondary School, was thrashed by a mob led by Arulanandhu.
The attack came in the wake of alleged corporal punishment meted out to his son on November 20.Arulanandhu has come to Chennai in 2004 before his name surfaced in the magnetic bed scam in which he was accused no 11 and founded Rich India Marketing along with one Chandrasekar. Prior to that, he was working in a super market as a salesman and had made money through multi-level marketing and real estate.
He started Rich India Housing in 2009 and at present owns landbanks in Arakkonam, Kancheepuram, and Sriperumbudur. His Bentley and Jaguar cars were seized from his office while the Mercedes was seized from his residence. The Range Rover was seized from his aide Arunagiri from Ayyappanthangal.