• Source:JND
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Chennai News: The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted conditional bail to Tamil actors Srikanth and Krishna, who were arrested last month in connection with an alleged cocaine consumption case. The court directed both actors to appear daily at the Nungambakkam police station until further orders.

Actor Srikanth was arrested on June 23 and Krishna on June 26 by Chennai City Police. Their names surfaced during an investigation into an attempt-to-murder case involving former AIADMK functionary Prasath, who reportedly revealed details of a drug network.

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Police said the arrests followed a series of confessions. Praveen Kumar, a key accused, allegedly admitted that Srikanth had bought and used drugs supplied by another accused, Prasad. Kevin, another individual arrested with cocaine, ganja, methamphetamine and Rs 45,000 in cash, reportedly supplied drugs to Krishna. Krishna was also found to be part of WhatsApp groups used for coordinating drug use, according to investigators.

However, lawyers for both actors contested the claims. Srikanth’s counsel, senior advocate John Sathyan, said his client’s arrest was based solely on another accused's confession and that no drugs were recovered from him. He added that Srikanth was arrested from his home while playing with his child and no concrete evidence was presented.

Advocate Infant Dinesh, representing Krishna, argued that Krishna had responded to police summons and cooperated during questioning but was still arrested without being informed of the reason, which he said was unlawful. A medical test reportedly did not confirm any drug use by Krishna.

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Despite the defence, the prosecution maintained that the arrests were made based on information obtained during the investigation into Prasath and subsequent confessions by other accused.

Srikanth has featured in around 70 Tamil films, while Krishna, who acted in notable films like Anjali, Iruvar and Thalapathy, is the brother of director Vishnu Varadhan and son of a film producer.

Authorities say more people from the industry may soon come under the scanner. In response to the controversy, film producers in Kerala have now made anti-drug declarations mandatory on sets. Police have also warned that concealing any information related to drug possession or usage will be treated as a criminal offence.

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