Ex-Minister Bhalaji finally arrested from K’taka
After a hunt that lasted several days and involved tracking hundreds of mobile phone numbers and even using drones, a special team of Tamil Nadu police arrested former dairy development minister KT Rajenthra Bhalaji in Hassan, Karnataka, on Wednesday. The team also secured two BJP functionaries, an AIADMK IT wing cadre, and a relative of the former minister, who accompanied him.
Since he went underground after the Madras High Court denied anticipatory bail in connection with job fraud cases reported in Virudhunagar, Bhalaji was not using a mobile phone to avoid being traced. But the police tracked as many as 600 phone numbers belonging to people close to him.
Sources told DT Next that the team tracked the number of Ramakrishnan, a BJP functionary from Krishnagiri, and his associate Nagesh and found that they were travelling via road through Hassan. When they checked toll gate camera feeds, officials found they had one toll gate on a car but not the next one on the same road leading out of Hassan.
The police then tracked down the location and reached the spot, which is near the office of a cop in Hassan. As they reached there, the team found Bhalaji and others getting on a different vehicle and arrested all five. This initially triggered a false alarm of kidnap, but the police team explained the situation to the Karnataka officials.
Sources said Bhalaji and others were planning to head to Mangaluru. To evade arrest, he was frequently on the move but carefully avoided toll gates, and lived in small houses in remote areas of Karnataka. Senior officers said the others with him – BJP functionary Ramakrishnan and his aide Nagesh, AIADMK IT wing member Pandiaraj, and Bhalaji’s relative Ganesh – would also face action for harbouring Bhalaji who was declared a proclaimed offender.
Tightening the noose around former minister Rajenthra Bhalaji, the police had ordered the freezing of his accounts with nationalised banks and primary agricultural cooperative society. This includes accounts with SBI, Thiruthangal branch; Thiruthangal Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society; Virudhunagar District Central Cooperative Bank, Thiruthangal; Bank of India, Sivakasi; and Canara bank, Rajapalayam.
Bhalaji allegedly collected Rs 3 crore from the complainants assuring them permanent jobs in Aavin during his tenure as the minister between 2019 and 2020, sources said. Based on complaints from two victims, the Central Crime Branch of Virudhunagar had filed two FIRs in November, accusing Bhalaji of cheating job seekers. Later, CSRs were issued for three more complaints. Besides, several petitions were submitted to Virudhunagar police seeking action against him.
After Madras High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea in December, he remained absconding. Initially, two special teams were formed to nab him, which was later expanded by six more teams from the West zone of the police. As the police could not find his whereabouts, a lookout notice was issued against Bhalaji and immigration authorities in airports were alerted, sources said.