The Mettur Police arrested a mimicry artist on Monday night in Salem district for transferring officials of a thermal power plant by mimicking the voice of Tamil Nadu electricity minister P Thangamani [pictured above]. Savari Muthu from Dindigul has allegedly transferred 29 employees working in the unit in the past few months, police officers told The Times of India.

Suspicion grew about a month ago when Assistant Engineer Jayakumar was transferred from the power production unit to the coal handling section. Initially, he was told that the minister had communicated with higher officials of the power plant and asked them to execute his transfer. But Jayakumar on Sunday found out that the minister had not made any calls in connection with his transfer when he went to meet Thangamani.

The power minister then asked his officials to investigate the case. The officials sought help from the Mettur Police who then started examining call details of the power plant executives. “Muthu had contacted one of the officials in the unit. He mimicked the minister’s voice and ordered the transfer of Jayakumar. He had also ordered the transfer of 28 other employees working in the unit over the last few months,” the police told the daily.

Officers also told The Times of India that they suspect that a bigger nexus is involved in the case. However, they are yet to identify the reason behind it.