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I haven’t done any mistake, says a fiery Vishal after being detained for trying to break open TFPC office

By Online Desk

The drama surrounding the Producers Council continued on Day 2 as Vishal, the head of the Tamil Film Producers’ Council, was detained by police for trying to force his entry into the office of the TFPC in T Nagar by allegedly trying to break a lock put up by a rival faction.

Visuals showed the actor-politician, who arrived at the TFPC office at T Nagar with his supporters, insisting on breaking the ‘unauthorised’ lock and entering the office.

Police officials were seen advising him to wait as some government officials were on their way to address the issue, or at least bring the original key and open the lock.

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An adamant Vishal was seen insisting on breaking open the lock.

“An argument ensued between him and the police personnel following which he was detained for alleged “unlawful assembly,” police said.

Media reports quoted Vishal as saying: “I have not done any mistake. They are not allowing me to go inside my office. If we ask questions they are arresting us. This is unbelievable.”

Vishal’s father, producer GK Reddy told media: I met my son now and he asked me not to worry about him. He’s trying to do good which is why people don’t like him.

Meanwhile, representatives of the protesting faction including, director Bharathiraja, producers AL Azhagappan and K Rajan met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy to hand over a petition urging him to look into the problems in the Producers Council. 

Earlier, on Wednesday morning, a 300-member strong group of dissenters, including producers T Siva, Sathya Jyoti Thyagarajan and AL Azhagappan, had locked down the TFPC offices in T Nagar and Anna Salai, protesting against the mismanagement by Vishal and a few other office bearers. 

Speaking to the media after the lockdown, Azhagappan had said, “With just a phone call, we were able to gather this crowd of 250-300 people. Imagine how much angst these people have. We want a new attack committee (a temporary committee with decision-making powers) to be formed that will act as stewards while election preparations happen for March 2019.”

READ | My personal life has gone for a toss after taking over as TFPC chief: Vishal

The protesting faction put forth a list of 18 points against Vishal and Co, which included issues like mismanagement of funds (the fixed deposit of Rs 7.8 crores left by the last group is particularly a point of concern), unkept promises (combating piracy, absence of income from Cable TV), large expenses (increased salary, increased rent) and not convening an Annual General Body meeting. 

ALSO READ | Tamil films piracy row: Film producers seek Vishal’s ouster from TFPC presidentship

And last night, TFPC President Vishal and other office bearers lodged a complaint against members of the dissenting faction who locked the offices, terming it criminal trespassing. The Sandakozhi 2 actor urged there was no mismanagement and the account details will be presented at a meeting soon. 

Further details are awaited.

(With inputs from Express News Service and PTI)

Source: The New Indian Express