MADURAI: Madurai Range DIG Dr Abhinav Kumar has been appointed to head the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged multi-crore property tax scam in Madurai corporation, following directions from the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court.
The appointment was made jointly by IG (South Zone) Prem Anand Sinha and City Police Commissioner J Loganathan, as no other IPS-rank officer apart from the commissioner is currently available within city police limits. A 2009-batch officer, Dr Abhinav Kumar is expected to take charge of the investigation in the coming days.
The court issued the directive while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by AIADMK councillor T Ravi, who sought a CBI probe into the scam, citing the need for an impartial and high-level investigation.
Meanwhile, the Madurai district court dismissed the bail pleas of six accused arrested in the case. The petitioners include R Sathish (technical assistant), S Karthick (data entry operator), N Mohamad Noor, J Saga Hussain, and B Rajesh Kumar — shopkeepers operating near the corporation office — and A Rengarajan, a retired assistant commissioner of the corporation.
Principal District Judge S Sivakadatcham denied them bail, citing the gravity of the offence. The alleged scam surfaced after a complaint was lodged by former corporation commissioner Dinesh Kumar on September 6, 2023, based on an internal audit report.
The audit found that property tax assessments for 150 buildings had been deliberately slashed without following due procedure. A subsequent investigation by the Central Crime Branch–II (CCB-II) revealed that the fraudulent activity occurred between April 1, 2022 and July 31, 2024. So far, 11 individuals have been arrested.“The CCB-II team will report directly to the DIG,” confirmed a senior police officer.