Fame and shame for Kannada stars

It is a curious mix of fame and crime for many Kannada stars, who have been arrested over a period of time on a variety of charges, prominent among them being popular star Darshan and Raghuveer and actress Yamuna.

From Darshan, arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife, to Harish Raj and Anand, many celebrities have been arrested in cheating, harrasment or murder cases.

In May 2011 actor producer Harish Raj was arrested for allegedly cheating producer Murali for reportedly giving him a cheque from Udaya TV without bringing it to his notice.
The next month, producer Bala Muthaiah was held in Hyderabad for swindling Rs 55 lakh from Dharmarayaswamy Temple ward's Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike corporator Dhanaraj in 2005.

Dhanaraj had dispersed the amount via cheque to Muthaiah to produce a Tamil movie.But the producer ran into losses and the project flopped. He could not pay Dhanaraj back immediately.

Raghuveer, who shot into stardom with 'Premanjali' and 14 others were arrested in Dec 2010 in Mysore for allegedly running a brothel under the garb of recruiting new artistes. He had then lasehd out at some persons in the industry saying they had trapped him as they were jealous of his stardom.

The sorry story continued when in January 2011 noted actress Yamuna was caught in a police raid on a five star hotel along with a top executive of an IT firm. Another high profile arrest was of Marria Monika Susayraj and boyfriend Lt M L Jerome Mathew in Mumbai for allegedy killing Neeraj Amarnath Grover, creative ad agency head in May 2008, a murder suspected to be result of a 'love triangle'.

In Dec 2010, Kerala police filed a chargesheet against Jayamala,four years after her controversial claim of touching Lord Ayyappa's idol at Sabarimala temple, violating custom. Women in 10-50 age group are barred from entering the temple.

Actor Anand was arrested in May 2010 for allegedly demanding dowry from his wife, who alleged he also physically and mentally harassed her for money. She had also charged him with having an affair with another actress.