Tamil Nadu town accuses its ‘helicopter brothers’ of taking off with Rs 600 crore

In December 2019, Tamil Nadu’s Kumbakonam witnessed a birthday celebration that became the talk of the small town. Mariyur Ramadoss Ganesh, a dairy owner, had a helicopter shower rose petals on his one-year-old son, the birthday boy.

Almost two years later, the high-flying Ganesh — by now the local BJP traders’ wing leader — and his brother, Mariyur Ramadoss Swaminathan, are all over the town again, but for less cheerful reasons. The ‘helicopter brothers’, as they are known, have been accused of cheating people of a whopping Rs 600 crore, and posters have been stuck across Kumbakonam demanding action against them.