CHENNAI: Police arrested a retired IAS official on Thursday for cheating people by promising them government jobs in the state.V Mohanraj, 62, had collected Rs 5.5 crore from 106 people. Based on the complaint of Nissar Ahmed, 49, a resident of Nungambakkam , central crime branch sleuths registered a case against him.Last year, the entrustment document fraud (EDF) wing of the CCB had arrested K Navappan, 28, a resident of Tiruvannamalai , who cheated people in similar fashion. During questioning, Navappan, who posed as an IAS official working at the Secretariat before his victims, told sleuths about the involvement of Mohanraj in the racket. Navappan told police that he had collected money ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh according to the jobs his victims wanted.Before apprehending Mohanraj, the EDF wing personnel collected details and evidence to substantiate the link between Mohanraj and Navappan. Officials said Navappan often visited Mohanraj’s office in the city between 2015 and 2016 when the latter was in service.“We collected the entry and exit registers from Mohanraj’s office and statements of the people who saw Navappan visiting. Few more proofs to establish the connection between the duo are with us,” said an investigating officer.Preliminary inquiries revealed that Ahmed had approached Mohanraj through a common friend, Selvakumar, in 2015. He had paid him Rs 50 lakh to get a medical seat for his daughter. When things did not work out, Ahmed demanded the money back. The cheques Mohanraj gave bounced and Ahmed complained to police who took no action terming it as a civil dispute.But Ahmed filed a case in the high court which directed police to take action. Police visited Mohanraj’s residence in Anna Nagar extension and brought him to the commissioner’s office. During inquiries, he confessed to have colluded with Navappan and cheated people promising to get them jobs.

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