Chennai: A Chennai Court has dismissed the bail plea of Saravana Bhawan MD Sivakumar. He was arrested by the CID on Saturday night for allegedly attempting to get US visas for his employees using forged documents.
Tamil Nadu police claim he confessed to his crime during interrogation.
Following the incident, the US Consulate in Chennai has scrapped its contract with the restaurant.
The Saravana Bhawan chain has 47 outlets in India and seven abroad, including one each in Canada and the US.
This is the first time that a top restaurant chain's owner has been arrested on forgery charges of this kind.
But it's not the first time that the family is in the thick of controversy.
Earlier, Shivakumar's father, P Rajagopal was arrested in 2001 on charges of murdering an employee and is out on bail.
"He has admitted to his crime though he has tried to play it down by saying that since they don't allow, I had no other choice but to do this. He also admitted a few instances where he's taken people from here to the US and even got work permit."
This is the second such complaint by the US Consulate in Chennai this year. A few months ago, there was a similar case involving two cine stars. The US Consulate officials believe this could be part of a larger racket.
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