Rs 2,000 per day rent: 'Land grab case' minister's strange hideout location in Thrissur

THRISSUR: Former Transport Minister of Tamil Nadu and AIADMK leader M. R. Vijayabhaskar, involved in the 100 crore land scam case, was hiding in a rented house for Rs 2,000 per day.

Using online advertisements to locate the old ancestral house in Vilangankunnu, the former minister started his stay on the 14th of last month. He maintained no contact with the residents. The locals turned suspicious only when the Tamil Nadu CBCID team surrounded the house.

Earlier, the team had carried out secret searches in the precincts. Suja, the owner of the house is settled in the UK.

According to the case: Vijaya Bhaskar and his accomplices stole 22 acres of land worth 100 crores belonging to M. Prakash, a resident of Kuppuchipalayam in Karur Vangal police station limits, by forging documents. The case was against 13 people including Vijaybhaskar and his brother Shekhar for threatening Prakash, his wife Sasikala and daughter Shobhana.

CBCID took over the case investigated by Karur police on June 14. Karur sub-registrar-in-charge Muhammad Abdul Khader had also complained to Karur town police on June 9 against Vijaya Bhaskar, alleging that he had cheated by presenting a fake document for registration.

On June 13, Vijaya Bhaskar filed an anticipatory bail application in the Karur Sessions Court. After the court rejected the bail plea, the former minister turned untraceable.