Explained: Night club brawl, actor Srikanth's arrest and the drug network that fuels a portion of the Tamil film industry

The Chennai city police have escalated their investigation into the cocaine trafficking case following the arrest of actor Srikanth. The police is said to have apprehended actor Krishna who went incommunicado after a film shoot in Kerala. Sources indicate that the drug network could lead to several other prominent actors in the Tamil film industry.

The Chennai police, sources say, is investigating if there is a network extending to the entire Tamil film industry. “The police are tracking the phones of all stakeholders. There seems to be no dead end to this. It is an ongoing investigation. We cannot reveal more,” said a senior police officer. The police are also questioning actor Krishna, who is also involved in the case other than actor Srikanth, in a secluded place in Chennai, according to sources.

Krishna is being questioned based on the statement recorded with actor Srikanth. Sources say that Krishna has already been subjected to clinical investigation to assess if he is into drug abuse. Forensic experts and police sources say that cocaine traces can be found through clinical investigation within 48 hours after the abuse. However, if they are regular users they will have symptoms like insomnia and restlessness which could help the investigators in the case.

It is said that based on the information shared by actor Krishna, the case might take a turn. Sources say the investigation leads to a network run by many stakeholders across the state borders, including neighbouring states like Karnataka. “There will be more arrests in the coming days,” said the senior officer. The officer on conditions of anonymity said that the investigation could lead to top actors in the Tamil film industry including a popular actress.

It all came out after a brawl broke out at a nightclub at Nungambakkam on May 22. And one of the members of a gang called Paandavar Ani (team) was beaten up by his own team members during the night brawl. The fight extended the next day after the injured got admitted in a private hospital in Chennai, which led to police investigation. The police began investigating the case a month before after the brawl.

The investigation led to a high profile cocaine case with explosive revelations by the stakeholders - involving a wide network which was into drug trafficking, abuse, job scams, blackmail and land grabbing using fake documents. Sources say that former AIADMK IT wing office bearer T. Prasad who has been arrested by the police was the brain behind the drug network and use to source it from Karnataka, which in turn came from Maharashtra and other coastal states like Gujarat. It is said that Prasad hosted many drug-fuelled parties to the cinema actors and sold cocaine to many individuals including cinema actors, politicians and other VIPs in Chennai. It is said that Prasad collected money ranging from ₹2 lakh to ₹20 lakh by promising government jobs and several crores by trafficking drugs.

As the investigation progressed the police initially arrested individuals like Prasad, Ajay Vandaiyar and seven others. Prasad was already involved in several fraud cases and had already cheated on a Hyderabad businessman. The initial investigation and tracking his phone calls revealed his connection to multiple drug networks across the country and abroad.

According to a press statement from the police, on June 17, the Chennai city police, based on inputs from Anti-Narcotics Intelligence Unit (ANIU) arrested Pradeep Kumar, alias Prado, a 38-year-old from Sankari in Salem. The police also arrested John, a 38-year-old Ghana national. The two were apprehended by the police with 11 grams of cocaine, ₹40,000 in cash and two mobile phones. Based on the information from them the police later arrested an individual named John from Hosur on June 18. Based on his confession statement, the investigation led to Prasad, who was part of the network supplying drugs to the nightclub at Nungambakkam.

Based on the information from Prasad and John, it was found that they had supplied cocaine to actor Srikanth and others on 40 occasions at a cost of over ₹4.72 lakh.

India