Chennai: Drama unfolded in the city this morning as actor-president of Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC), Vishal, tried to break open the lock at the council office.
Following an argument with the police, he was detained. A group of producers alleged misappropriation of funds by Vishal from the council and locked the office yesterday.
Meanwhile, his supporters staged a protest this morning.
Sources say that when Vishal tried to reach the gates of the office to break open the lock, the police intervened. After a scuffle with the police, the actor-producer was arrested and whisked away in a police van waiting nearby.
He was then taken to the Teynampet police station.
On Wednesday, a large group of film producers descended upon the TFPC office in T Nagar and locked it down.
Citing multiple complaints of fund misappropriation and mismanagement of the council, the faction of producers’ group demanded the resignation of Vishal from the post of TFPC president. Those who locked the TFPC office included J K Rithish, S Ve Shekher and A L Azhagappan, among others.
MEET CM
Those opposing Vishal in the producers council today called on Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.
Sources say that they submitted a memorandum at his office seeking his intervention on the issue. They alleged in their memorandum that though the association has been registered under Cooperative Societies Act, the TFPC has not been following the by-laws in its day-to-day activities.
A couple of senior office-bearers have not turned up for the council meetings for the past 15 months. The executive and general council meetings have not been convened as per the by-law. Also, Rs 7.85 crore has been spent from the corpus fund of the council without seeking approval of the general council, they said.
Hence, for the welfare of producers, a committee headed by a retired IAS officer or judge should be appointed to take charge of the affairs and explanation should be sought from Vishal and team. Fresh elections should be conducted within four months, they added.
WILL GOVT INTERVENE?
State Information Minister Kadambur Raju today denied involvement of the State government in the rift within the Tamil Film Producers Council. We will intervene only if it leads to a law and order problem, he added.