Some light on the Rithu Akarsha mishap

1 December 2015 09:53 am Views - 18253

Rithu Akarsha the tele actress who shot to fame in a short time, also hit news headlines recently.Akarsha had a nasty experience the other day, when she was returning home in Kelaniya after an exhausting filming session.

The vehicle she had been driving had crashed onto a barrier at a check point at the entrance of the road leading to the parliamentary complex.Although the vehicle was  damaged she escaped injuries and had managed to drive away without stopping.

The police personnel who were on guard duty at the barrier had chased behind Akarsha’s car and  found that the young good looking but badly shaken driver was Rithu Akarsha the popular tele-actress. As the law was applicable to all irrespective of their positions and personalities, police obtained a statement from her on the instructions of the Talangama police ASP Sarath Prema. Akarsha related that she had been returning from Polduwa after taking part in the shooting of a tele-drama. She had been accompanied by one of her friends and after dropping her at Thalawathugoda the actress had headed homewards but had found difficulty in locating the correct road home when the mishap took place. Akarsha and her car were taken into custody by the police and she was produced before the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Courts.

Police Sergeant Sumanadasa submitted to courts that on the night of 22nd at about 11 PM Akarsha  driving her car in a reckless manner had crashed into the police barrier near the entrance to the parliamentary complex. The defendant was released on a surety bail of Rs 100,000 by the Kaduwela Magistrate and Additional District Judge Dammika Hemapala. Attorney Kamal Wijesiri appeared for Akarsha. The police had acted commendably despite Akarsha’s popularity as an actress and her father being a police officer. Many rumours and gossip began spreading that Rithu Akarsha while returning from a night club had been under the influence of liquor when the accident took place.

Refuting all these allegations Akarsha said: “All these days I had to work day and night due to continual shooting of a tele-dramas. On the day of this misfortune the shooting in the Rajagiriya area went on until very late. When it was over I decided to return home when a colleague requested for a lift to her home in Thalawathugoda area. After dropping her, I continued on my journey. I remember passing the Water’s Edge Hotel before I knocked against the plastic cones and the barrier at the police barrier and stopped. One of the police officers at the barrier knew my father who was also a police officer. The police accompanied me to the Thalangama police. The damaged car too brought to the police station.

”  She vehemently denied that she spoke to a young Cabinet minister soon after the accident, but to her father. “My father never influenced the police to release me and I never pleaded for his help. I did not  flee from the place of the accident which directly involved me either. As I cooperated with the police they took action to produce me in courts without delay.”  

When asked whether she was under the influence of liquor when the accident took place, she scoffed at the very idea. “If I were drunk at that time, police would have definitely found out about it. I am not a drinker, but the media picked on me to spread this story,”  she  claimed. “I told them the truth as I had nothing to hide. It was tiring and exhaustive to face the camera continually for several hours, with powerful lights focused on me at close range. These are the occupational hazards we undergo as film stars which most people fail to understand. But they make haste to make a mountain out of a mole hill.” (Srinath Prasanna Jayasuriya)