Kannada actor Huccha Venkat (in pic) was arrested on Friday after a group of students made a complaint to the police about the derogatory remark he reportedly made against Dr B R Ambedkar during a panel discussion on a news station.
Venkat was booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and remanded in judicial custody by a local court. The students lodged the complaint at the Jnanabharathi police station.
Taking part in a panel discussion that was aired by a Kannada news station at 9 pm on November 18 and re-telecast several times, Venkat reportedly made an offensive remark about Ambedkar. The complaint also accused the news anchor of “provoking” the actor to make the statement and demanded that the news station be banned.
After filing the complaint, the students also staged a protest. Venkat was arrested in the morning. A senior police officer said that the anchor was summoned for questioning and had given to time to do so.
Another complaint
Another complaint was filed against the actor at the High Grounds police station. That’s not all, there could be more complaints as many people are approaching police stations, the officer said.
“But no matter how many cases are filed, we will transfer all of them to one police station and investigate them,” he added.
Venkat was in the news last week, too, after being evicted from Kannada reality show ‘Big Boss 3’. On November 14, he is said to have assaulted singer Ravi Muroor, another contestant. As Venkat had broken the rules of the show, he was immediately eliminated.
MLC wants cops to act
Earlier on Friday, Venkat’s issue was raised in the Legislative Council by Congress member, R V Venkatesh. Seeking the government’s reply on the police response, the member demanded that the government regulate reality shows like Big Boss to ensure that viewers, especially youngsters, were not adversely influenced.
In reply, Home Minister G Parameshwara said that if anybody from the public lodged a complaint against the actor, suitable action would be taken against him as well as the channel concerned.
He also said that neither singer Muroor or any member of his family had filed any complaint against Venkat. He also stated that his department would consult the department concerned to regulate reality shows.
Police had questioned the show’s business head, Parameshwar Gundkal, on the day of the assault. Gundkal had said the incident had taken place on the sets of Big Boss, according to the minister.