Raj Tarun released on station bail, extortion case against costume designer

HYDERABAD: Tollywood actor Raj Tarun was arrested by Narsingi police on Thursday and later released on station bail in a rash driving case. Meanwhile, Madhapur police who registered an attempt to extortion case against a costume designer who recorded the video of the accident, said that they would start probe by recording the statement of the complainant and the actor.
After the video of the accident was aired on a few TV news channels, Raj Tarun appeared before the Narsingi police on Thursday night. Narsingi police booked actor Raj Tarun under section 279 (rash driving) and 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC.
“Raj Tarun appeared before the investigation officer on Thursday. He was served a notice under section 41 of CrPC and arrested. Narsingi police recorded his statement and he was later released on station bail,” Madhapur DCP A Venkateswar Rao said.
The actor had a close shave when his Volvo car crashed into a roadside wall at Narsingi on Monday. He later tweeted that the seat belt he wore had saved him.
After much speculation as to who was driving the car and whether that persona was drunk, Raj Tarun tweeted, “Thank you so much for the concern, so blessed to get calls to know I am safe or not. I came out from home via Narsingi circle, which is a regular accident spot from the past 3 months. It was a sudden right. In that quick decision, lost control and the car hit the wall beside the road.....seatbelt was there. I check myself and took a quick run to go back home to get some help (sic).”
Narsingi police booked actor Raj Tarun under section 279 (rash driving) and 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC.
“In a day or two we will file a charge sheet in the case,” Narsingi inspector G V Ramana Goud said.
On Thursday night, Tollywood actor D Raja Raveendar, who is the manager of Raj Tarun, lodged a complaint with Madhapur police alleging that costume designer Karthik claimed that he had recorded the video of Raj Tarun when the latter was returning home on Monday night and demanded Rs 5 lakh to not release the video to TV channels. Police registered an attempt to extortion case against Karthik.
“We will record the statement of the complaint and the actor. Based on that we will proceed further,” Madhapur inspector S Venkat Reddy said.