Actor Ram Charan Tej on Thursday made a vain bid to brush over the attack on two IT professionals by his guards, pointing out that no complaints were lodged by either side. He, however, ended up giving an altogether new twist to the tale.
Even while appealing to the media “not to take this further”, he almost accused the duo — Phanish and Kalyan — of being drunk when the altercation happened on Sunday afternoon at Banjara Hills.
“Their behaviour was erratic. They banged on my vehicle window when I was sitting with my wife. One of them even rushed out without footwear. They could have been drunk,” the actor remarked at a press conference.
‘Issue should stop’
He, however, maintained that he did not want to take the issue further as he was “concerned about the careers of the two IT professionals”, one of whom was also planning to go to the United States. The victims had even admitted to their “fault”, he claimed.
The actor also said the police had examined the CCTV footage of the incident which allegedly showed Phanish and Kalyan rushing towards his car.
Charan’s version
Giving his own version of events that happened on Sunday, the son of Union Minister Chiranjeevi claimed he was heading for Hotel Taj Krishna and halted at the traffic signal when the duo began to honk continuously and got into argument with him.
Even while claiming to be “law-abiding citizen” and a “family man”, Mr. Charan said he was worried about his wife’s security and hence alerted his security men.
“There was a scuffle and even my men received injuries. But no one was beaten up or there would be blood wounds. I maintained my dignity and did not get down or it would have been different,” he said, in a defiant tone.
‘Morphed picture’
He also accused an unnamed photographer of morphing his photo — which published in several newspapers — after failing to blackmail him for money.
“I did not even get down from my car. A day later, my office received a call informing about the photos and offering a deal. We have recorded the conversation and informed the ACP,” he claimed.
However, Mr. Charan refused to name the photographer as he was not interested in “harming his career”. He was ready to “fight legally” to the end but wondered if the two victims had the capacity for such a tussle, putting their “careers in danger”.
