The plot just took a turn for the worse for Kollywood actor ‘Power Star’ Srinivasan.
Behind the bars for a week in connection with a cheating case, Srinivasan alias Somasundaram Srinivasan is likely to be booked under the Goondas Act. If this happens, he will be in jail without eligibility for parole for at least a year.
According to the police, 50-year-old Srinivasan, a native of Simmakkal in Madurai, is an acupuncture practitioner. Interestingly, he acquired the qualification from a university in China through distance education programme, and commenced practice soon after.
His love for movies and acting brought him to Chennai. He set up a finance firm, Baba Trading Company, in Anna Nagar and advertised through brokers that he would help ‘deserving businessmen’ acquire huge bank loans.
“Many struggling entrepreneurs approached him and Srinivasan obtained large sums as commission from them under the pretext of providing them with loans,” said an investigating officer.
Srinivasan is suspected to have cheated many persons across the country using similar modus operandi. He allegedly obtained over Rs. 7 crore from unsuspecting businessmen. “Using the money, Srinivasan produced a movie, Lathika , in 2011, and played the lead. He went on to do cameos in a few more Tamil movies and at the same time, persisted with his money-making schemes,” the officer said.
Srinivasan later added the prefix ‘Power Star’ to his screen name. He shot to fame with a key role in the 2013 hit Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiya .
In 2012, the actor was arrested by the Kilpauk police on charges of cheating and released on bail after a couple of weeks. On April 26, this year, he was booked by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) and sent to prison following a complaint lodged by P.S. Ranganathan of Andhra Pradesh.
After more complaints of cheating began pouring in against the actor, his office in Anna Nagar and a hospital he owned on Park Road, Anna Nagar West Extension, were shut.
Srinivasan, currently in jail, has been booked by the CCB in at least four cases of cheating. Taking into account the number of cases and complaints against him and the amount he has swindled, the police are reviewing the matter and awaiting orders for his detention under the Goondas Act.
