Former ADMK Minister Manikandan has been challenging the Chennai police to arrest him by being at large for the past few weeks to evade the arrest in connection to the sexual harassment allegations levelled against him by a Tamil actress. The police have intensified the manhunt to nab the former minister and as the latest action, the law enforcement agency has formed two special teams to search and arrest Manikandan. 

According to reports, the latest action from the police has come on Friday, days after the Madras High Court had dismissed Manikandan's anticipatory bail petition. On May 28, a Tamil actress had lodged a complaint against Manikandan for refusing to marry her and threatening to kill her if she dares to speak about the illicit relationship. She had alleged that the former minister had refused to marry her after living together for five years. 

She shockingly said that Manikandan had made her pregnant three times. She alleged that Manikandan has forced her to abort the fetus all three times and has tortured her and threatened her that he will release their private photos and will hire mercenaries to kill her if she opens up about the relationship in the public. Apart from filing a complaint, she had also submitted photographs, WhatsApp chats, and other proofs of her relationship with the former ADMK Minister to the Chennai Police.

Based on her complaint, the Adyar All-Women Police station had on Sunday filed a case against Manikandan under sections 376 - rape, 323 - punishment for voluntarily causing hurt, 313- causing miscarriage without woman's consent, 417- punishment for cheating, 506 (i) - criminal intimidation of the Indian Penal Code. The police had also booked a case against the former ADMK Minister under the Information Technology Act. Manikandan, who served as the Tamil Nadu Minister for Information and Technology from 2016 to 2019, has gone absconded after the complaint was filed against him.

A special team was formed to track the former minister and officials have been gathering the names of Manikandan's friends and assistants and earlier, the police officials had rushed to Manikandan's home district of Ramanathapuram to collect the evidence against him and to investigate the people who are in his close circle to ascertain his whereabouts. They also had carried out searches in Chennai as he could have got a haven in the city. 

Amid being at large, Manikandan had moved the anticipatory bail to the Madras High Court on Wednesday. During the hearing, Manikandan's counsel said that the allegations against the minister were false. However, the actress counsel has said that if the minister gets bail, he could come out and tamper with the evidence with his political influence. By hearing both sides of the argument, the court had rejected the anticipatory bail petition of Manikandan. 

As no bail petition was granted to the former minister, the police department had formed two special teams on Friday to nab him. According to reports, the police had received a tipoff that Manikandan could have been staying in Madurai and the special teams had rushed to Madurai to trace the former minister and the officials began the drive of gathering evidence against Manikandan and to trace his location.