Telugu filmmaker Nutan Naidu sent to jail in Dalit youth’s torture and tonsuring case

Visakhapatnam: A court in Visakhapatnam on Sunday sent Telugu filmmaker Nutan Naidu to judicial custody for 14 days in a Dalit youth’s torture and tonsuring case.

The Telugu ‘Big Boss’ participant Naidu, who was arrested in Karnataka on Friday, was brought here late Saturday and was produced before a magistrate on Sunday. The magistrate remanded him to judicial custody for two weeks. The accused was subsequently shifted to Anakapalli Sub-Jail.

Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Manish Kumar Sinha on Friday declared that Nutan Naidu was arrested from Udupi in Karnataka. He was taken into six days after the police arrested his wife Madhu Priya and six others for assaulting and tonsuring a Dalit youth at their house on suspicion of mobile phone theft.

Sinha said Nutan Naidu was arrested after his involvement in the incident was established. He had made calls to his wife before and after the incident.

During investigation, the police also found that he had called some officials impersonating retired IAS officer P.V. Ramesh to protect his wife in the case. He made calls to superintendent of King George Hospital, Dr P.V. Sudhakar and other officials asking them to issue medical certificates to the accused.

Ramesh lodged a complaint with the police after Sudhakar called him back to cross check if he had telephoned him.

The police investigations also revealed that Nutan Naidu had called over 30 officials impersonating Ramesh to protect or help his relatives and friends in various cases in the past.

The torture and tonsuring incident occurred on August 28 and the next day the police arrested the accused, including four women. CCTV footage showing the accused assaulting 20-year-old P. Srikanth and tonsuring his head had shocked the state.

The accused were booked for attempt to murder, wrongful confinement and other charges and sent to judicial custody.