Chennai, July 1: The CBI today arrested two top police officers of Tamil Nadu and a public sector unit official in connection with the stamp paper scam.

Deputy inspector-general A.P. Mohammed Ali — the officer who led a police team past midnight to arrest DMK chief M. Karunanidhi three years ago — was arrested after the bureau swooped down on his house at Kilpauk here.

Also arrested were Shankar, the deputy superintendent of police in the anti-dowry cell, and an official of the Life Insurance Corporation of India, official sources said.

All three are being interrogated at the CBI’s Malligai complex in south Chennai and are likely to be taken to New Delhi later tonight.

The bureau sleuths led by deputy inspector-general Ashok Kumar, who flew in from New Delhi this morning, conducted extensive searches at the houses of Ali and Shankar.

Ali’s alleged involvement in the stamp paper scam came to light after an associate of Abdul Karim Telgi — the man who is believed to have masterminded the printing and distribution of fake stamp papers in various states — spilled the beans.

Nijamuddin, the arrested accomplice, reportedly told the investigating agency that he was arrested by Tamil Nadu’s Crime Branch-CID in 2002 but was later let off, allegedly at the behest of senior CB-CID officers, including Ali.

A CBI spokesman in Delhi was quoted by PTI as saying that investigations had revealed that fake stamps were being sold by a licensed stamp vendor through his firm operating from Anna Nagar here.