Avadi City Police has arrested a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary from Padiyanallur on charges of cheating two consumer durable suppliers and also threatening them.
Accused a history-sheeter
Police identified the suspect as K.R.Venkatesan alias ‘Milagaipodi’ Venkatesan, 58, from Padiyanallur who is a functionary of BJP OBC Morcha. He had been arrested in 2015 by the Andhra Pradesh police under charges of smuggling red sandalwood to foreign countries.
Venkatesan has 50-odd criminal cases pending against him including seven at the Redhills Police Station — including an attempt to murder case — and he has been arrested under the Goondas Act in 2011 as well. He was also registered as a history-sheeter, but in 2013, he moved a writ petition before the Madras High Court seeking a cancellation of the history sheet and got a favourable order.
Venkatesan had also been a former member of the youth wing of the AIADMK and later he was removed from the AIADMK in 2015 after he was arrested in a smuggling case. Subsequently he joined the BJP.
Police sources said Venkatesan recently came out on bail. Two consumer durable suppliers have approached him to get their money from another dealer who wilfully defaulted the payment. He received commission from them and however, he joined the dealer and threatened the duo. Based on their complaint, police arrested him on Friday and remanded him.
Venkatesan recently posted a photo of him taken with Union Home Minister Amit Shah when the latter visited last week in Madurai on social media and tagged the posts with higher police officers to show that he was an influential person, said police sources.
Published – June 14, 2025 02:03 pm IST
