Bengaluru: Police seek evidence, issue notice to Shruti Hariharan in ‘MeToo’ case

Bengaluru: Renowned Kannada actress Shruti Hariharan’s Me Too case has got another twist. Shruti Hariharan had accused South famous actor Arjun Sarja of Me Too. The Cubbon Park Police of Bengaluru, which investigated the matter, submitted a B Report in January 2022 due to lack of suitable witnesses. Shruti again went to court against this report.

Shruti Hariharan, who had challenged the B report submitted by the Cubbon Park police, has now again been given a notice by the police. It has been stated in the notice to give evidence to the police. This notice was issued after hearing the application in the court.

Shruti Hariharan had claimed on the Metoo forum that the actor sexually harassed her during the shooting of Vismaya. As Shruti made allegations, some organizations, actors and artists stood by the actress, while most of the senior artists were lending support in favor of Arjun Sarja. When the complaint was heard against Arjun Sarja, father-in-law, veteran actor Kala Tapaswi Rajesh first filed a complaint in the film chamber. The Karnataka Film Board, which held a press conference after the complaint was filed, also expressed displeasure that Shruti Hariharan should not have gone directly in front of the media. Later, a meeting was held between Shruti Hariharan and Arjun Sarja at the Film Chamber, moderated by Rebel star Ambareesh.

Actor Arjuna Sarja, who intervened while making a statement about Vismaya, said that ‘I did not behave badly during the movie. Also I had not called her to any dinner, hotel, resort, room. Being in the film industry for 35 years, there is not a single black mark on me. He had further claimed that I and my family members have suffered a lot due to the allegations made by Shruti’. As Ambareesh’s negotiations failed, Shruti climbed the court steps. All this happened in 2018.

Based on the complaint filed by Shruti, the police had investigated. The police also visited and inspected the places where sexual harassment was said to have taken place. Due to lack of evidence, the Cubbon Park police submitted a B report on January 2022. The B report submitted by the police was accepted by the 8th ACMM court in Bangalore. Even actress Shruti Hariharan, who had made so many allegations against Arjun Sarja, has not objected to the B report of the police. Thus the Court accepted the B-Report.

‘I was sexually harassed by Arjun Sarja during the shooting of Vismaya. Actress Shruti Hariharan had alleged that she was the only one in the room at UB City and he called me to come and spend some time with him’ the heroine alleged.

In this background, the police who went to interrogate the security guards who were working in UB City at that time were shocked. After that incident, several security guards have not only quit their jobs, but also escaped from the security agency itself. Even some of the staff there did not give any information about the case.