Anna University deputy registrar arrested for job fraud

CHENNAI: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) officials arrested the Deputy Registrar of Anna University-MIT campus on charges of job fraud on Monday. According to the police, E Parthasarathy (57) was arrested based on a complaint from one Vigneshwaran filed a year ago. There were similar other complaints after that. Parthasarathy’s son, Vishveshwar, the main accused was arrested last year. 

The police said Vishveshwar had received money from aspirants with a promise of getting them jobs using his father’s ‘influence’ in Anna University, TNEB and PWD. The father-son duo had employed eight agents to con over 75 people to the tune of Rs  3.29 crore, said a senior police officer.

While Vishveshwar was arrested and remanded in 2020, police gathered evidence against Parthasarathy before remanding him on Monday. The agents Valli Ilango, Ramaswamy, Elangovan, Rajpandi, Raju, Arumugam, Ravindraraja and Deivasigamani were arrested along with Vishveshwar on different dates (October 25, 2019,  November 5, 2019, and February 17, 2021).

The first complaint was registered on October 25, 2019, and police said that the job fraud has been going on for over three years. The officer said Parthasarathy allegedly interviewed candidates at his office in the campus.

‘Rs 50K to Rs 1L offered based on agent’s job’

An officer said Parthasarathy allegedly interviewed candidates at his office in the campus and provided them with fake appointment letters. When the aspirants entered the campus for work and found that their appointment letters were fake, they tried to contact the father and son but in vain.” The police also said that Vishveshwar, who handled the agents, gave them Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh depending on the job profile of the agents they brought in.

The agents would collect the money from the aspirants and later give them to Vishveshwar, said the police. “While all the accused were caught one after the other, Parthasarathy played smart claiming that he did not do anything with regard to the job fraud. During interrogation, we found that agent Ramaswamy had handed over the cash to the Parthasarathy and Vishveshwar at their house,” said a police officer.

Furthermore, the police officer found that Parthasarathy has misused his power as Deputy Registrar to create fake seals of Anna University, TNEB and PWD and manufactured duplicate certificates. The whole issue came to light when the people who were provided with fake appointment letters went to their respective offices for job and were turned away saying that they have been conned.

The following amounts were taken as bribes for the respective jobs: PRO at Anna University- Rs  15 lakh, TNEB Assistant Engineer - Rs  10 lakh, Junior Assistant - Rs  8 lakh, Office Assistant - Rs  3 lakh, Professor/Assistant Professor - Rs  10 lakh.