Chennai: City police has formed three special teams to investigate into the allegations against notorious film financier Anbu Chezhiyan figuring in the suicide note of producer B. Ashok Kumar. The 43-year-old who was actor-director M. Sasikumar’s cousin was found dead in his apartment on Arcot Road,
Valasaravakkam, on Tuesday evening. Police said that a team has been sent to Madurai, where Anbu Chezian is said to be hiding. Two other teams are perusing documents, mobile phone records of the deceased to find about the correspondence between him and Anbu Chezian.
In the suicide note recovered from his apartment, Ashok Kumar has mentioned the name of Anbu Chezian whom he has accused of harassment. “For seven years, he had charged exorbitant interest rates. However, for the past six months, he stooped to levels wherein he started harassing women and elders in our family by sending strangers to the house,” the suicide note read. Meanwhile, police action follows the complaint by actor Sasikumar at the Valasaravakkam police station, hours after the death of Ashok Kumar. According to his complaint, “Ashok Kumar was a co-producer with his production company and their venture, Kodi Veeran is slated for a release by the end of this month.
Police sources said that Sasi Kumar’s company had taken huge loans from Anbu Chezian to fund their last release, Tharai Thappatai. “We were paying interest for it. We faced losses as the movie did not succeed financially,” Sasikumar has mentioned in his complaint. Anbu Chezian had threatened them to repay the loan with exorbitant interest and threatened to stall the release of Kodi Veeran.
Meanwhile, Valasaravakkam police have registered a case under section 306 (abetment of suicide). “He (Anbu Chezian) is absconding. After investigations, we would add the relevant sections including usury, if we get material evidence,” a police officer said.
No deals with Ashok Kumar, says Anbu Chezian company
The 50-year-old film financier, who is now in the eye of a storm over the death of a co-producer, is not new to such controversies.
His name has been associated with harassing film producers ever since the death of filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s elder brother, G. Venkateshwaran’s suicide in May 2003. Anbu Chezian himself gave a statement denying allegations that he threatened GV to repay his debts.
Even after that incident, Madurai ‘Anbu’ as he is known in the film industry continued with his nefarious ways. In December 2011, Madurai police arrested Anbu and two of his associates for charging exorbitant interest rates and threatening a film producer, S V Thangaraj. Anbu was out and he would go on to start his own production company, Gopuram films. Almost every film director who spoke after the suicide of Ashok Kumar admitted to have borrowed money from Anbu Chezian to fund their movies. Director Suseendran in his twitter post claimed that the financier even harassed actor Ajith among other stalwarts in the industry.
Meanwhile, a release from Anbu Chezian’s production company claimed that they had no financial deals with Ashok Kumar and expressed surprise that the deceased mentioned Anbu Chezian’s name in the suicide note, apart from questioning the veracity of the suicide note. “We are in film business for two decades. There have been no complaints against us,” a release read.
