The Chennai Police on Saturday arrested YouTuber 'Savukku' Shankar from his residence in connection with an alleged assault and extortion case filed by film producer Ayesha Sadiq. Apart from Shankar, five members of his team were also arrested.
A video has also gone viral on social media, showing the police arriving at Shankar's residence, but the YouTuber refused to open his door. According to the police, officials were ready to show details for the arrest and also the warrant.
"He refused to open the door, insisting that the police first speak to his advocates before stepping in," news agency PTI quoted an official as saying.
Shankar's pre-arrest video
Hours before getting arrested, the YouTuber had released a video on social media and claimed that the police were trying to arrest him in a 'false' case that had been filed by a film producer. He alleged that the police were trying to arrest him on the instructions of a senior official.
In his video, Shankar even alleged that the police have claimed that he and his team 'snatched' Rs 2 lakh from the producer and thrashed him. However, he said all these things are 'fabricated', and such an incident has never happened.
"The police issued summons in October end, and I replied stating that the said film producer had never visited my office or that I had sought money to remove a video that allegedly defamed him," Shankar said.
What political parties said on Shankar's arrest?
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come to the defence of Shankar and slammed Chief Minister MK Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government in the state. In a post on social media, BJP chief spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathi condemned Shankar's arrest and said the DMK has "unleashed repression and anarchy" in the state.
BJP leader Nainar Nagendran also hit out at the DMK and said the Stalin government is "strangling freedom of expression". "The arrest of journalist Savukku Shankar by the DMK government’s security forces by breaking down the door of his house with a rock is highly condemnable," he said.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), BJP's alliance partner, also condemned Shankar's arrest. Meanwhile, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram posted on X: "While I don’t subscribe to or endorse him, this repeated recurring arrests of Savukku Shankar is blatant harassment."
