Actor Vishal held for bid to forcibly enter film producers council in Tamil Nadu

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Tamil Actor Vishal and his close aides were arrested on Thursday for trying to break open the gate of the Tamil Film Producers Council office, which was locked by a rival group. He was released on bail in the evening.

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Vishal is president of the council, and the office was locked the previous day by a section of film producers, demanding the actors resignation, accusing him of being involved in criminal activities, and of misusing funds of the council.

Vishals arrest took a political turn after the rival group of producers met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. They alleged he had misused an amount of Rs 7 crore from the councils funds and sought Palaniswamis help to recover the money. “The councils leadership has to answer questions about Rs 7 crore we had as fixed deposit. Moreover, they are running the show from a new building instead of the registered office. Who gave them permission to do all that?” asked veteran director P Bharathiraja.

Producers close to Vishal said problems were being created for the actor to derail his efforts to revive the producers council and to prevent some high-profile fund-raising programmes he had planned, including an upcoming music event of Ilayaraja, to help producers in financial crisis.

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Even as the government seemed to stay away from the dispute, sources close to Vishal said it may be favouring the rival camp, which is headed by Bharathiraja and BJP leader S Ve Shekher.

Vishal accused the police of not acting against the rival group. “We will fight back. We will do everything to conduct the Ilayaraja event, and raise funds,” he said.

Original Article