Cheating case, Ranjitha and Jayalalithaa Vs Maran Brothers

Mangalore Today / PTI

Chennai, July 12:  Kalanidhi Maran who had been summoned by the Chennai police this morning in connection with a case of cheating has asked to postpone his interrogation till the 26th of this month.

Mr Maran is the Chairman of Sun Network; his brother, Dayanidhi, recently quit as Union Minister after being accused of corruption.

 

A film distributor in Tamil Nadu has accused Sun Pictures of cheating and criminal intimidation.  The Chief Operating Officer of Sun Pictures, Hansraj Saxena, was arrested recently.

T S Selvaraj claims that he bought the distribution rights for Salem to a Tamil film produced by Sun Pictures for close to a crore.  But instead of using him, Sun allegedly released the film directly in theatres.  Mr Selvaraj claims that the COO of Sun threatened him when the distributor asked for his money to be reimbursed.

The heat that Mr Maran is facing draws from the determination of Jayalalithaa to punish the Maran brothers, who have long been her political rivals.  Jayalalithaa was elected to power in May in Tamil Nadu; she ousted the DMK, whose chief, M Karunanidhi, is the grand-uncle of the Maran brothers.

Yesterday, actor Ranjitha filed another police complaint against Sun TV alleging that the channel broadcast a defamatory video that alleged to show her in a compromising position with Swami Nithyananda of Karnataka.  Ranjitha claims the woman in the video is not her.  She has reportedly been promised political support by the new government in Tamil Nadu for her battle against Sun.