The Greater Chennai Police Commissioner has sent a special team to Andhra Pradesh to trace Tamil actor Kasthuri Shankar, who is reportedly absconding.
On November 14, the Madras High Court denied anticipatory bail to Kasthuri in a case related to her alleged derogatory remarks about the Telugu community.
Justice Anand Venkatesh, who dismissed the actor’s bail plea, observed that her comments were “unwarranted” and noted that her apology did not adequately address the controversial statements.
The case stems from remarks Kasthuri made on November 3 at a Brahmin gathering in Chennai. She allegedly stated that Telugu-speaking people in Tamil Nadu were “descendants of courtesans” who came to serve the kings 300 years ago and were now claiming Tamil origins.
Her comments drew widespread criticism, prompting a member of the Naidu Mahajana Sangam State to file an FIR against her.
In response to the backlash, Kasthuri issued an apology on social media platform X, claiming that “false news” was being spread by “Tamil Nadu’s Goebbels and the anti-Hindu DMK network.
“She also expressed her love and loyalty for the Telugu community, stating, “People of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will never fall for their lies.”
Justice Venkatesh while rejecting her bail plea, said that she “should have refrained from speaking against the women of the Telugu community.”
The court criticised her comments and found her apology insufficient, as it did not directly address the remarks about women.
Kasthuri argued in court that the FIR was politically motivated, claiming the DMK government had an “intolerant and vindictive attitude” toward her.
She maintained that her remarks did not incite any unrest or provoke the community. Police sources reported that Kasthuri’s current whereabouts are unknown, but intelligence suggests she is hiding in Andhra Pradesh with her phone switched off.
Sources said that a Tamil film producer helped her escape from Tamil Nadu, though they declined to reveal the producer’s identity.
Kasthuri, who actively campaigned for the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, has been distanced by the Tamil Nadu BJP, which condemned her statements.
She later issued a clarification, claiming her comments were misinterpreted.
According to Kasthuri, her remarks were meant to highlight the hypocrisy and double standards of the DMK, not to insult the Telugu community.
Kasthuri stated that her remarks referred to a specific group of workers who accompanied Telugu rulers to Tamil Nadu centuries ago and later assumed Tamil identities.
She asserted that her statements were twisted to suggest a broader attack on the Telugu community, which she denied.
Kasthuri clarified that she referenced “staff of consorts,” not “descendants of consorts,” and cited DMK leader M. Karunanidhi’s acknowledgement that the group consisted of artisans and musicians.
She argued that her critics were mostly DMK cadres and that her comments targeted the party’s ideological stance, which, in her view, unfairly portrays Brahmins as “foreign” to Tamil Nadu.
Kasthuri further accused the DMK of indulging in “Brahmin persecution, Sanatana opposition, and Hindu god humiliation,” asserting that the party’s stance was “anti-Hindu, anti-Brahmin, and anti-Sanatana.”
She concluded by stating that her remarks were aimed at exposing the DMK’s “outsider politics,” which she claimed stigmatises Brahmins while ignoring the historical migrations of other groups into Tamil Nadu.