Chennai,  The Chennai police have constituted a special team to trace former Information Technology Minister M. Manikandan, who has been booked on charges of raping an actress on the pretext of marriage.

Manikandan is absconding ever since the Madras High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea. Police sources said that the members of the special team have been deployed to Madurai and Ramanathapuram to track Manikandan.

The former IT minister in the AIADMK government was booked two weeks ago by the Women Police Station in Adyar based on a complaint filed by a Malaysia-based actress, who accused Manikandan of continuously exploiting her on the pretext of marriage.

The police booked the ex-minister under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on charges of rape, causing miscarriage, and cheating.

The actress alleged that she had met Manikandan in 2017, and the minister had promised to do business jointly in Malaysia. She further alleged that she was forced to undergo abortion by Manikandan after becoming pregnant with his child.