Finally, after weeks of search and episodes of disappointments, the Tamil Nadu police had arrested former ADMK Minister Rajenthra Balaji. He had been on the run since the third week of December to evade arrest in connection to the cheating case that was filed against him. The Tamil Nadu police had a mammoth task of apprehending him and amid the search from several special teams, he has been arrested. 

According to reports, the special team of the Tamil Nadu police have arrested Rajenthra Balaji in Karnataka where he was hiding. He was surrounded by the team when he tried to escape after seeing a police car in Haasan, Karnataka. An arrest warrant and a lookout notice were issued against him by the police and several special teams were formed to apprehend him. The teams were earlier rushed to several districts of Tamil Nadu and to Delhi on the tip-off that he was hiding at the national capital. 

However, the former ADMK minister was playing hide and seek with the police. He was accused of cheating to the tune of Rs 3 crore by giving fake promises of providing government jobs while he was serving as the Minister of Dairy Development in the previous ADMK regime. The cheating case against him was filed in his home town of the Virudhunagar district last November under serious sections. The complaint was moved by two people including the close associate of the former minister. 

Rajenthra Bhalaji had moved his anticipatory bail petition to the Madras High Court to evade the arrest. His bail petition was completely rejected by the court on December 17, 2021, after the police had stressed that the department has strong evidence that the former minister had cheated and swindled money. After knowing that his bail petition was dismissed, Rajenthra Bhalaji had absconded and the Virudhunagar Superintendent of Police had issued an arrest warrant against the former minister. 

Around eight special teams were formed to nab him and the police had also held investigations with several people close to the former minister to trace his whereabouts. After weeks of intense search, the police team had rushed to Haasan, Karnataka based on the information about his haven. According to reports, when Rajenthra Balaji, who was wearing a t-shirt and saffron dhoti, had seen the police car, he was trying to escape. However, the team had surrounded him and ended his hide and seek game.

The Tamil Nadu police had arrested him and begun the process of bringing him to the state. As the next course of action, the former minister will be produced before the Haasan court in Karnataka and later, he will be brought to Tamil Nadu. It must be noted that the former minister had earlier moved his bail petition to the Supreme Court after it was rejected by the Madras High Court. However, the apex court is yet to admit his petition.