Chennai: The Puzhal Prison vigilance squad seized as much as Rs 14,000 on Monday from the prison cell where Vendhar Movies S. Madhan has been lodged since his arrest last November. The seized money was linked to Madhan, who is cooling his heels in the A1 category block earmarked for remand prisoners.
The money was remitted to the prison treasury and an internal probe is on to establish the route of the money to the inmate's cell. No prisoner is permitted to possess money after entering the prison campus. The A1 category prisoners have a few other benefits though.
"The wages earned by the prisoners in jail and the money received by them are kept in the "Prisoners Cash Property Account" and they cannot keep money with them in cells. They can send the money from their account to their blood relatives during emergencies. They can also purchase required cosmetics and novelties out of their cash account from the prisoners' canteen. The balance amount standing to their credit would be returned to them at the time of their release," an excerpt from the official website of Tamil Nadu prison department reads.
Madhan was all over the news when he 'vanished' leaving a purported 'tell-all' style suicide note on May 28, 2016 in which he said he was going to attain 'jala-samadhi' in Kasi. The note detailed how he was acting as an admission agent for SRM group founded by TR Pachamuthu, and the money he had collected on behalf of the management. Following his disappearance, about 100 medical seat aspirants, who had paid money to Madhan, began lodging complaints with the police resulting in the probe of the multi-crore medical seat scam.
The probe led to the arrest of Pachamuthu in August and the court enlarged him on bail in September. Pachamuthu, who is also the founder of IJK party which is a BJP ally in the State, denied having received any money through Madhan, who was arrested when traced to his friend's house after a 6-month escapade, on November 21, 2016.
