Actor Mansoor Ali Khan begins fast in prison

Tamil film actor Mansoor Ali Khan, lodged in the central jail in nearby Salem, on Saturday began a fast to protest against the multi-crore Chennai-Salem greenfield highway project, police said.

Khan was arrested on June 14 and jailed for speaking against the Tamil Nadu government on the project and also reportedly intimidating people, which could have 'led to riots,' they said.

To express his opposition against the Rs 10,000-crore project, the actor, who had 'threatened' to hack eight people to death if the government went ahead with the same, refused to take food since Saturday morning, police said.

On Friday, a court in Salem district granted conditional bail to environmentalist Piyush Manush, arrested in this connection, but had denied bail to the actor.