Telugu actor Raj Tarun has found himself in the middle of a controversy days after he met with an accident at Narsingi, in the outskirts of Hyderabad. The actor had abandoned his car after he crashed it into a wall near Alkapuri Township circle on Monday night.
A day later, he had tweeted that he was safe, adding that he didn’t suffer any injuries only because he had worn his seat belt. When people asked him if he was drunk, Raj Tarun had denied it, claiming that he had been completely sober. The actor had said he was travelling from his house via Narsingi road and due to a sudden diversion, he lost control of the wheel and crashed into a wall on the roadside.
However, the actor’s manager, Raja Ravindran, has now lodged a complaint at the Madhapur police station against Karthik, a costume designer, for allegedly threatening and making extortion demands from the actor. The actor claims that Karthik has been threatening him with a video that could defame him and is asking him for money in order to not publicise the video. The Madhapur police station have registered a case against Karthik.
Soon after the complaint was filed, Karthik released a video to the local media in which Raj Tarun can be seen fleeing the accident scene after crashing the car. Karthik, who lives in the lane where the accident took place, claims that Raj Tarun was drunk and had refused to take responsibility for the accident.
The video has raised suspicions on whether Raj was in an inebriated condition when he crashed his car and had fled the scene to avoid a case being filed against him.
The CCTV footage from near the accident spot shows a Volvo car coming at a high speed and crashing into a wall. Seconds later, Raj Tarun is first seen walking and then running away fast. Karthik, who allegedly saw Raj Tarun escaping from the accident scene, says he followed the actor. A video capturing the conversation between Raj Tarun and Karthik shows the actor plainly denying that he was involved in any accident near the spot.
Among the many claims he makes, Raj Tarun says that the car didn’t belong to him and on being questioned what he was doing outside so late in the night, he says he was smoking a cigarette nearby and came out for a walk. The actor is seen walking barefoot and on being questioned further, he demands to see the footage of the accident.
Speaking to local media, Karthik alleged that the actor was drunk and had struck a deal with him not to release the video. He also claimed that he didn’t make any threats or extortion demands but instead, he had got a call from a woman allegedly offering him Rs 5 lakh. He further added that the case was only a ploy by the actor to divert attention due to his fear of the video being publicised.
Speaking to TNM, Narsingi police said that a case was filed against Raj Tarun for negligent driving on Tuesday. However, the officer added that Raj was not at the accident spot when the police reached there, nor did he come to the police station on the following days.
“We don’t know if the actor was drunk, because he fled by the time we reached the spot. By then it was too late to probe if the actor was drunk or not,” the police official said.
He also said that they found that the car didn’t belong to Raj Tarun but was registered under the name of one Pradeep.
Meanwhile, reacting to the controversy, Raj Tarun told media that he was too shaken by the incident and had run home for “help”.
TNM contacted the actor’s manager, Raja Ravindran, for clarity, but he refused to comment saying the matter is sub judice.