CHENNAI: Actor Suriya Sivakumar allegedly assaulted a 21-year-old football player near Thiru Vi Ka Bridge on Monday evening, intervening in an accident that the youth had caused.
Around 4.30 pm, Lenin Manuel (25) and Prem Kumar (21) were proceeding on a two-wheeler towards Adyar to play a game of football when their bike rammed into a car on Thiru Vi Ka bridge.
Lenin works in a branch of a private beauty salon chain in T Nagar and Prem Kumar is a professional football player representing a prominent team in the Chennai Football Association (CFA).
“The lady who was driving a car ahead of us applied brakes all of a sudden and in attempting to stop my bike, I rammed it into the rear,” Lenin Manuel told Express.
The youth were reportedly arguing with the lady for compensation when Suriya, who happened to pass by, intervened.
The actor is a resident of Karpagam Avenue in Adyar, about half a kilometer away. The incident happened right opposite Malar Hospitals and had led to a huge traffic pile up on one side of the bridge (towards Adyar).
“We were asking the woman politely to compensate us as our bike was damaged. He (Surya) intervened and accusing us of harassing a woman, assaulted my friend, Prem,” Lenin said.
A spokesperson denied the allegation and maintained that the actor had only asked the duo to behave properly. When contacted, Surya’s Manager confirmed that the actor was at the spot, but denied physical assault.
“The duo was said to have harassed the old lady and Suriya, asked them to back off. He only asked them to take their argument to a side as there was a traffic pile up. He then left the scene,” Johnson, Surya’s manager told Express.The duo preferred a complaint with the Shastri Nagar police who issued a community service register (CSR).
Peace-talk gone wrong
Suriya got into a mess after he allegedly assaulted a professional football player, who was arguing with a woman following an accident
Prem Kumar and Lenin Manuel were proceeding on a bike towards Adyar when their bike rammed into the woman’s car
Lenin claimed they were politely asking the woman for compensation when Suriya intervened, accusing them of harassing a woman, and assaulted Prem
The actor’s manager, however, sayid Suriya had only asked the duo to take their argument to a side as there was a traffic pile up