CHENNAI: Minister for Human Resources Management D Sarathkumar on Friday denied allegations of drug use at a cricket stadium, saying a two-year-old video of him crushing a white substance with a credit card has been deliberately misrepresented.
A DMK lawyer has filed a police complaint alleging the minister had consumed drugs during an IPL match, after the video that went viral on social media showed him using a credit card to crush a white substance on what appeared to be a wallet inside a crowded stadium. The controversy erupted on the day when CM Vijay flagged off an anti-drug awareness run to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Responding with a video of his own, the minister appeared alongside his wife and child to offer an explanation. He said the family had attended the match together, and their child had fallen ill and was refusing to take medication.
On his wife’s request, he said, he crushed the tablets so they could be mixed with water and fed to the child. “The video was taken when I was crushing the tablet. It is now being falsely shared as if I were using drugs. This is very painful,” he said.
His wife added that the tablet was prescribed for their child, who was one-and-a -half years old at the time. The minister also noted that the incident occurred inside a packed IPL venue amid heavy police presence with thousands of spectators around.
BJP state secretary Vinoj P Selvam weighed in on the episode on X, stating that the CM should ensure a thorough investigation and ‘sack’ the person concerned if it was indeed found to be a narcotic substance.