Chennai: A special court for corruption cases in the city has sent former MLA Muthukumaran, arrested in connection with the ₹100 crore private schools cheating case, to five days of police custody.Special judge L S Sathiyamurthy passed the order on the ground that the CCB has to ascertain the actual sum of the amount received by A1 (B T Arasakumar) and A2 (Muthukumar) for A5 (Anbil Mahesh), from the statements of accounts and records collected in the investigation.“Therefore, A2 has to be interrogated in this regard is also one of the reasons stated by the CCB. The accused had used various places to store the amount and also availed the services of middlemen for logistic purposes. The ultimate destination of the monies and properties purchased by using it are also important and to be investigated. Therefore, this court is of the view that the reasons are valid and sustainable,” the court said.Granting custody of the accused, the court added that the investigating officer shall not subject the accused to any threat, inducement, coercion, physical assault, mental harassment or third-degree methods during the course of custodial interrogations.The court also allowed advocate of the accused to remain present within the line of sight of the interrogation. “But shall be positioned at a distance without being within hearing distance. Every day at 5 pm the advocate and the respondent can meet for 10 minutes,” the court said.
