‘India’s first AI scam’: Tamil Nadu minister alleges library fraud under DMK

Tamil Nadu's Minister for School Education, Rajmohan, has accused the previous DMK government of engaging in an AI-driven scam involving the purchase of fraudulent books for public libraries. Allegations surfaced after novelist Perumal Murugan criticized books containing elementary errors and questionable historical claims at Periyar Arivulagam library.

Rajmohan displayed committee recommendations, purchase orders, and payment proceedings to support his claims and announced a special committee to investigate library collections. He urged the government to recover every rupee spent on the disputed books. The controversy extends beyond Coimbatore's Periyar Arivulagam, with similar books from Agalvilakku Publishing House found in other libraries such as Connemara Library and Kalaignar Library in Madurai.

Rajmohan alleged that the books were manufactured under invented identities and used AI to combine material from different authors. He requested libraries to preserve the books as evidence and instructed the Public Works Minister to investigate whether irregularities extended to library construction. The DMK, however, called for an independent inquiry and rejected the allegations as mere political accusations.