Chennai, Jul 1 (IANS): Arrested AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu Minister M. Manikandan has moved the Madras High Court seeking bail in a rape case.

He is now lodged in Puzhal jail after there were complaints that he was provided VIP facilities at the Saidapet Sub Jail where he was kept after being arrested in Bengaluru on June 20.

The AIADMK leader, in his bail plea, said that the complainant is not a teenager or an illiterate woman but a Malaysian citizen and a movie actor, who knows fully well the consequences of having a sexual relationship with a married man. He said that even if her complaint of having a sexual relationship with him on the promise of marrying her after divorcing his wife was true, it did not amount to rape.

He claimed that a completely false complaint had been lodged against him by the Malaysian actor and her associates to avoid repayment of a loan amount of Rs 5 lakh that she had taken from him.

Manikandan also said he was a general surgeon in the Tamil Nadu government service for 12 years before entering politics and that he had a credible track record.