Sandalwood actor Sruthi Hariharan has filed two complaints with the Bengaluru police alleging that south Indian star Arjun Sarja’s media manager Prashanth Sambargi threatened to kill her.
At around 1.30 am on Friday, Sruthi Hariharan filed a complaint with the High Grounds Police stating that Prashanth Sambargi is communalising the issue and is attempting to smear her reputation as a respected actor in the industry.
“At around 4 pm on Thursday I went into the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce for a meeting. The meeting was set up after I spoke about the sexual harassment I faced at the hands of Arjun Sarja. While I was inside the meeting, Prashanth Sambargi issued a statement to the media, claiming that international agencies had paid me to level allegations against Arjun Sarja. He said that he would not leave me alone. He also threatened to kill me,” Sruthi’s complaint reads.
The actor also stated that Prashanth Sambargi was trying to politicise the issue and malign her reputation. She also alleged that he had violated her privacy and had accessed her call details and Facebook user details.
However, the High Grounds Police reportedly refused to register an FIR at once. The police informed Sruthi that her complaint does not include any offence on behalf of Prashanth Sambargi which could fall under a specific section of the Indian Penal Code.
“We don’t know what section the complaint should fall under. We can register an FIR only after obtaining a court order,” the High Grounds Police said.
The police then filed a non-cognisable report. However, it is likley that they will file the FIR under IPC section 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (insulting modesty of woman) based on her complaint, after taking permission from the court.
Sruthi also filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police in Bengaluru. She alleged that Prashant had hired ethical hackers to access her private phone records and Facebook data. The Cyber Crime Police is yet to register an FIR.
Actor Chetan, who has spoken in support of Sruthi, also filed a defamation complaint with the High Grounds Police, stating that Prashanth Sambargi had tried to malign his reputation in the Kannada film industry. Sruthi has also decided to file a complaint with the Police Commissioner against Arjun Sarja on Saturday. Since the actor is in Tamil Nadu for a shoot on Friday, she is set to approach the Commissioner on the next day. Sruthi’s associates are likely to hold a press conference on Friday in this regard.