M Manikandan, a former AIADMK minister for Information and Broadcasting, was arrested in Bengaluru by Chennai City Police following the complaint of actress Shantini accusing him of rape, causing a miscarriage, and criminal intimidation.

The Madras High Court had earlier refused to grant anticipatory bail to M Manikandan, who initially denied knowing the actress and counter accused her of extortion but went absconding.

Shantini Theva who hails from Malaysia in her complaint had accused the former minister of making false promises to marry her and of sexually assaulting her. She claimed that he threatened her with death while forcing her to abort when she became pregnant.

Manikandan who was already married, apparently met Shantini in Malaysia while she was working for Malaysian Tourism, and the actress claimed that he forced her into a personal relationship. She claimed to have been in a five-year live-in relationship with him and provided screenshots of WhatsApp conversations to back up her claims. According to reports, Shantini also stated in her complaint that Manikandan threatened to post her personal photos and videos on the internet if she did not leave.