Post a surprise check sprung by the cops, Tamil actor Shaam was arrested Monday night, 27th July, from his apartment complex in the upscale Nungambakkam area in Chennai, along with 12 others, under the Gambling Act. Game boards, tokens and cash worth lakhs of rupees was seized by the Chennai Police in the surprise raid conducted on Shaam's home. According to the police, other popular Tamil actors would also frequent Shaam's home to indulge in gambling activities. However, it's been cleared that no other individual from Kollywood was arrested along with Shaam.
A senior police officer told NDTV, "Actor Shaam has been arrested along with 11 others. We are investigating the modus operandi over the use of tokens. A few other actors also frequent this apartment complex to gamble. But on Monday, they were not there" The raid and subsequent arrests transpired a day after a final-year undergraduate student killed himself due to losing money in an online game. "The young man had lost Rs 20,000 he had taken from his workplace and appears to have become depressed and killed himself," added the police officer while speaking to NDTV.
The police officer continued, “Many hotels are now being used to quarantine COVID-19 patients. However there have been reports that some rooms are being used for gambling. Once we get credible information, we will raid them.” All the thirteen arrested were taken to Nungambakkam police station and later let off on bail.
Shaam had made his debut in Kollywood with 12B in 2001. Later, he acquired fame in Telugu cinema, too, with films like Kick and Race Gurram. The actor is currently awaiting the release of his long-delayed Tamil film, Party, directed by Venkat Prabhu.
