Srikanth grilled in drugs case, another Tamil actor on radar
The actor was issued summons to appear for police enquiry and later taken to a government hospital for medical checkup.;
Actor Srikanth
CHENNAI: Tamil actor Srikanth was on Monday detained by the Chennai police for suspected drug abuse in continuation of the crackdown by the city police. Police sources said another Tamil actor is also under the police scanner.
The 46-year-old actor was issued a summons to appear for a police inquiry and later taken to a government hospital for a medical check-up to ascertain the presence of the narcotic substance in his system. Police teams have conducted searches at Srikanth's residence, but there has been no official communication from the Chennai police on whether any narcotic substance was seized from him.
According to Section 27 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, consumption of drugs is an offence and is punishable with imprisonment for up to one year.
According to police sources, Srikanth had allegedly procured cocaine for personal consumption from the expelled AIADMK IT wing functionary, T Prasath (33), who was arrested along with four others in a pub brawl case by the Nungambakkam police last month.
Subsequently, complaints poured in against the AIADMK functionary about his role in a job scam in which he allegedly cheated several government job aspirants. Two police personnel, including a sub-inspector too were arrested by the city police subsequently for their role in the job scam.
On June 18, ANIU and Nungambakkam police arrested Pradeep Kumar (38) a man from Sangagiri, Salem and his associate, John (38) of Ghana, who was arrested from Hosur for possession of cocaine. Police had seized 11 grams of cocaine from the duo, meant for peddling.
A probe with Pradeep revealed that he was in touch with the expelled AIADMK functionary, Prasath, who used to supply cocaine for distribution to his "high profile friends" including Srikanth.
Srikanth, who debuted with the 2002 Tamil film 'Roja Kootam', has acted in over two dozen films in Tamil and Telugu. A senior police officer said that the inquiry is still underway with the actor, and a decision on his arrest and remand will be taken later.