Film producer-director B. Ashok Kumar committed suicide in his residence in Alwarthirunagar near Valasaravakkam on Tuesday. In his suicide note, Ashok Kumar, who was a relative of director-actor Sasikumar, has blamed a film financier for pushing him to take the extreme step.
An official of Valasaravakkam Police Station said Ashok Kumar, a native of Madurai, committed suicide by hanging in his multi-storeyed apartment at Arcot Road in Alwarthirunagar. His suicide note accused a film financier based in Madurai, with whom his production company has been taking loans, of charging exorbitant interest.
Paid exorbitant interest
He had further claimed that it was a big mistake to have associated himself with the financier for more than seven years and that he had paid exorbitant interest on the loans. For the past six months, he was harassed and threatened by the financier, who claimed to have political clout and also was influential in the police and film circuit.
The Valasaravakkam Police sent the body to the Government Royapettah Hospital for postmortem.
Ashok Kumar has co-produced films of Sasikumar including Eesan , Poraali and the yet-to-be-released Kodi Veeran .
A senior officer of the Chennai city police said, a case under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the IPC has been registered against the financier.
If it is proved that he had been involved in usury, more sections would be added under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act, 2003.
Help is available on the State’s helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention line 044-24640050.
