The Tamil Nadu Crime Branch CID (CB-CID) arrested former state minister MR Vijayabhaskar from a hideout in Kerala on Tuesday in a Rs 100 crore land grab case.
Vijayabhaskar, the AIADMK leader and former transport minister in the previous Edappadi Palaniswami government, faces charges of forging documents, kidnapping, assault, and criminal intimidation to grab 22 acres of land worth Rs 100 crore in Karur.
Vijayabhaskar was reportedly absconding, and the special teams traced him to a hideout in Peechi in Kerala’s Thrissur, close to the Tamil Nadu border. He was brought to the CB-CID office in Karur. Along with Vijayabhaskar, another individual was also arrested.
The initial case was registered on a complaint filed by a Sub-Registrar. Another complaint filed by Prakash, the landowner, alleged that the former AIADMK minister and his associates threatened his family and fraudulently transferred the land.
Meanwhile, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami condemned the arrest. He called the police action on a “civil dispute” a result of “political vendetta” and expressed confidence that the former minister would win the legal battle.
