Chennai: Ten days after Rich India employees flexed their muscles against a schoolteacher in Kodambakkam for allegedly assaulting their boss D. Arulanandhu’s son, the entire top brass of the marketing and realty firm is behind bars.
As many as 36 persons all employees of Rich India including Arulanandhu, nine directors and vice-presidents of the company have been arrested for showing their support to four employees who assaulted physical training teacher S. Baskar Raj at Loyola matriculation school on November 20. The police have slapped various charges, including attempt to murder, against all the arrested.
Arulanandhu was arrested from a farmhouse in Manikandapuram, in the suburbs of Tiruchy, by a special team led by Chennai city crime branch deputy commissioner S. Jayakumar on Sunday night.
He was remanded in judicial custody for 15 days on Monday and is lodged in Puzhal prison along with the rest of his staff. Four luxury cars were seized from the possession of Arulanandhu and his associates.
“Arulanandhu should have lodged a complaint against the teacher with the local police. Instead, he sent his men to assault the teacher. To make matters worse, immediately after we registered the case, Arulanandhu went underground. A simple case became a big one,” noted Abash Kumar, additional commissioner of police (south).
At least six teams followed Arulanandhu’s trail which led them to Tiruchy, Kodaikanal, Puducherry, Ambasamudram, Dindigul, Tenkasi, Courtallam and Bengaluru. Three more people - his brother Sebastian, and senior executives Vijayakumar and Mohideen are still wanted in connection with the case.
The police said they were also assessing the role of Arulanandhu’s wife Aruna, a graduate in business communication, in the assault and criminal trespass into the school.
Arulanandhu, a class 8 dropout, started his current marketing and realty firm, Rich India, in 2009 and showed phenomenal growth. At present, his firm develops lands in Arakkonam, Kancheepuram and Sriperumbudur.
In 2004, he was listed as one of the accused in the magnetic bed scam. Police sources said his son, the class 8 student, is still undergoing treatment at a private hospital while his teacher continues to be treated at the Royapettah government hospital. Three police officers an inspector, an assistant commissioner
