An alleged kingpin of a money lending racket in Kerala was arrested Saturday by police personnel of that state after they fired a warning shot in the air. His arrest comes after he got himself 'freed' from police custody months ago with the help of his men while being taken to Kerala. He has been allegedly absconding since then.

"Kerala police fired one round in the air. It was a warning shot to arrest P Maharajan," a senior police officer told PTI. Maharajan is the main accused in a moneylending racket involving crores of Rupees. He also faced complaints of cheating and charging exorbitant rates of interest. In July, following his arrest, Maharajan was "freed," when he was taken in a vehicle by Kerala police personnel to their state on the Salem-Kochi highway in Tamil Nadu.