Former AIADMK Minister M Manikandan, booked under rape charges, has been arrested by Chennai Police in Bengaluru during the wee hours of Sunday. A special team was formed to nab the former IT Minister under the AIADMK government, who was on the run after Madras High Court dismissed his anticipatory bail plea. According to reports, the police have not revealed the location from which the Minister who had absconded was arrested or where he is being investigated at present. According to reports, he was arrested from Bengaluru. More details are awaited.

Following a complaint filed by an actor, Adyar All-Women Police Station had registered a case against him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and booked him under sections 376 (rape), 313 (causing miscarriage without woman’s consent), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 417 (punishment for cheating), 506 (i) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

It was reported earlier that the Minister had allegedly been in a live-in relationship with the woman for about five years. While promising to marry her, he had allegedly made her pregnant thrice and forced her to abort all three times. The woman, a Malaysian-born Indian who has also acted in a few Tamil films, also alleged that the ex-Minister threatened her family when she asked him to keep up his promise of marrying her.

Manikandan, who was the former Information Technology Minister under the AIADMK government, was introduced to the woman in 2017. He had befriended her under the pretext of making investments in Malaysia, following which the ex-Minister allegedly expressed his interest to marry her even while he was already married to another woman. Manikandan was elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly from the Ramanathapuram constituency and held office between 2016 and 2019.