CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Police on Saturday arrested popular YouTuber Savukku Shankar from his flat in a multistorey apartment complex on the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road.
The city police have not yet officially divulged the reason or the case for which he has been arrested.
The arrest happened after intense drama for many hours since morning, as Shankar, who resided in the apartment with his elderly mother, refused to open the door, demanding the police to explain the reason for the arrest to his advocates first.
Videos posted by Shankar on social media from inside his apartment and one of his advocates or supporters from outside his apartment showed that though a group of advocates visited the spot, the police apparently told them that they would explain the reason for the arrest to Shankar in the presence of his advocates once he opened the door.
Sources said personnel from the Meenambakkam and Madipakkam stations arrived at the apartment in the morning to execute the arrest.
As the standoff continued, the city police requested the assistance of Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services personnel to break open the main door’s lock to gain entry. He was taken into custody around 2.15 pm, and a search was subsequently conducted at the premises.
In a video he posted just before his arrest, and his brief comment to the media after he was arrested, Shankar said that he was being arrested because of a UPI transaction of Rs 94,000 received by one of his employees, Nithish, the previous night.
He said that while his team did not know who had sent the money and were trying to figure out the same, the police had registered a case based on a complaint from a person claiming that they were threatened by Shankar and his team to send the money.
"I have faith in the judicial system. The complaint alleges that I threatened someone to send money to my employee," he asserted.
A few functionaries of the AIADMK, the principal opposition party, strongly condemned the of Shankar.