Tamil actor Srikanth arrested for buying and consuming cocaine

Chennai: Tamil and Telugu actor Srikanth was on Monday arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Intelligence Unit (ANIU) of the Chennai Police for buying and consuming cocaine.

Srikanth’s arrest came after his name cropped up during the interrogation of Prasad, an administrator of the AIADMK IT wing who was expelled from the party after he was apprehended in connection with a high-profile drug case.

It is believed that the cocaine that Prasad sold to Srikanth was procured from Zeerick, a Nigerian national based out of Bengaluru in Karnataka.

Srikanth, who made his debut in Tamil cinema with his 2002 film Roja Kootam and spread his wings in Telugu cinema as well, was arrested after hours of interrogation. He was taken to the Nungambakkam Police station in the evening for further questioning, police sources said.

The sources said Srikanth procured cocaine from Prasad and consumed the drug on several occasions. “He was taken to a government hospital in Chennai for medical tests which confirmed the use of drugs. He was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act,” a senior police officer said.

Sources claimed that Srikanth paid Rs 12,000 for buying one gram of cocaine from Prasad, who was arrested last week following a brawl at a private bar in which several rowdies were also involved.

After Prasad’s arrest, they apprehended his friend Pradeep Kumar and a Ghanaian national John on June 19 for smuggling cocaine and it had emerged during probe that they got supplies from Zeerick, who is still at large. “Pradeep has confessed that he got supplies of cocaine from Bengaluru since 2023,” the police officer said.

Police also said Pradeep supplied drugs to Prasad, who is producing a film with Srikanth, at least 40 times in the past two years and made about Rs 5 lakh. It is also said that another actor is involved in the case.

The case has sent shockwaves in the Tamil film industry even as the Malayalam film industry recently saw the arrest of actors for alleged drug use.

A serial actor before he made his debut on the silver screen, Srikanth has acted in over 50 films in Tamil and Telugu. Some of his popular movies are Kana Kanden, and Nanban in which he acted with actor Vijay, and was recently seen in Konjam Kadhal Konjam Modhal.