Sriram Raghavan impersonator arrested

According to the Versova police officials, the accused, identified as Shanmuga Vadivel Thangavel, created a social media account in the director’s name and used it to chat with aspiring actresses and models

Mumbai: A 31-year-old software engineer from Tamil Nadu was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly impersonating National Award-winning Bollywood filmmaker Sriram Raghavan on social media.

Sriram Raghavan impersonator arrested

According to the Versova police officials, the accused, identified as Shanmuga Vadivel Thangavel, created a social media account in the director’s name and used it to chat with aspiring actresses and models. Police said that he also asked one of the aspirants for her nudes, claiming he wanted to cast her for a nude photoshoot.

“One such actress got suspicious about the impersonator and discussed his demands with a few close friends in the industry and through a common friend, approached the filmmaker and enquired with him about the social media account”, said a police officer.

After learning about the fake account in his name, Raghavan approached the Versova police on March 23, and a case was registered against the unknown impersonator, said senior inspector Siraaz Inamdar of the Versova police station.

“Thangavel, a resident of Tiruchengode in Tamil Nadu where he handled an online “Seva Kendra” used to help people apply for Aadhar and PAN cards and other government documents,” the officer said.

Raghavan in his statement to the police said he was informed by several people that his profile was faked on social media platforms. But when a female actor approached Raghavan saying that the person chatting from his account asked for a nude photoshoot, the filmmaker informed her that he had not approached anyone for any such shoots, said assistant police inspector Javed Shaikh of the Versova police station.

“Based on Raghavan’s FIR, we started investigating the matter and wrote to the concerned social media platforms and obtained the technical details of the impersonator. A police team visited Tamil Nadu and he was arrested and brought to the city on Wednesday. He is in police custody till Friday,” added Shaikh.

When contacted Raghavan, he said, “I am relieved that the police have acted in the matter and arrested the accused. This wasn’t just simple impersonation; the accused was contacting people and trying to cheat them using my name. That was actually why I filed the complaint because the matter was getting serious.”

The filmmaker also rued the fact that despite so much awareness, people were still gullible to such crimes. “The accused was asking aspiring models and actresses to send their photographs. Why would I be casting anyone through Facebook? This is all the more reason why I am happy about the arrest,” he said.