Chennai: Veteran newscaster and actor S. Varadharajen, who recently posted a video claiming that a bedridden friend of his was struggling to find a bed in Chennai amid COVID-19 crisis, has been booked by Central Crime Branch (CCB) in Tamil Nadu.
The Tamil Nadu government filed an FIR filed against him for putting decrying inadequate beds in private hospitals under several sections, including those related to circulation of 'false information" likely to have a bearing on people.
“One of my friends was down with fever for two days and he developed breathing problems the third day. But there were no beds anywhere in Chennai, including in government hospitals. They were told not to bring the patient to the hospital,” the actor said in the video which has since gone viral.
A visibly emotional Varadharajen then added that despite reaching out to senior government hospitals, they had failed to get the friend hospitalised.
The state government denied all allegations of non-availability of beds for COVID-19 patients. Reacting to the actor’s video, Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar had threatened that action will be taken against the actor under the Epidemic Diseases Act.
“There are 5,000 beds in Chennai alone and there are sufficient number of beds in other Covid Care Centres. We have sufficient facilities. Anyone can make tall claims. He (Varadharajen) has given completely wrong information and we will take action against him,” Vijayabhaskar said.
The actor had put out a clarification that the video was meant for limited circulation among friends, and was not meant to be broadcast on social media. He said the video had been inadvertently leaked in the public domain. In his clarification, the actor had, in fact, lauded the state government for its efforts of containing the pandemic.
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