Who is ‘Savukku’ Shankar, the YouTuber in Tamil Nadu police’s crosshairs?

CHENNAI: ‘Savukku’ Shankar, the whistleblower-turned-anti-corruption activist-turned-blogger-turned-YouTuber who has been a thorn on the side of the regimes in Tamil Nadu and the police for long, was arrested yet again on Saturday, this time for his allegedly derogatory comments against women police personnel.

So, who is he and how has he become such a troublemaker for the police?

S Shankar was a clerk in Directorate Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) when he came to public attention back in 2008 in connection with a damning newspaper report that exposed the manner and scope of illegal tapping that the law enforcement agencies in Tamil Nadu were indulging in.

The report contained a conversation between the then chief secretary and the DVAC director discussing how to book a fresh case against the then opposition leader, late AIADMK supreme J Jayalalithaa. The news report added that the phones of several politicians and media persons were also being tapped without obtaining the mandatory permission from the authorities concerned.

After the report triggered a storm, the finger of suspicion pointed towards Shankar as the source of the audio leak and he was promptly suspended and arrested. The case went on for about 10 years before he was acquitted.

In hindsight, the threat of prosecution did not stop him; in fact, if anything, he made use of the limelight that it offered and made a name for himself in the sphere of Tamil Nadu political and social commentary as an unapologetic and no-holds-barred critic of the regimes – particularly targeting the police. Around this time, he adopted a nom de guerre – Savukku or whip.

As he started to become more popular, more officials and others who wanted to expose wrongdoings began giving him documents to make public. These revealed instances of corruption and political scandals, while he also used the popularity to bring to light social issues.

When he was harshly critical of the AIADMK government headed by Edappadi K Palaniswami, he was widely panned as a DMK supporter. But that criticism ended almost immediately after the MK Stalin-led DMK government came to power in 2021. Since then, Shankar has been the loudest critic of the DMK president, his son Udhayanidhi Stalin, those from their inner circle – and as usual, the police department which the chief minister is handling.

In 2022, he was arrested and spent time in jail for six months for his comments against the judiciary. But he was released after the Supreme Court intervened. True to his form, he penned a book about life inside prison soon after his release.

After YouTube became a popular medium, he took to the platform in a big way. After being a popular guest on several smaller YouTube channels – all videos featuring an interview with him fetched hundreds of thousands of views, which, in the YouTube world, bring in revenue. Soon enough, he launched Savukku Media and is its Chief Executive Officer. If sources are to be believed, he is gearing up to launch a political party and take the plunge soon.

The latest arrest that came on Saturday was over his comments against women police personnel. The Coimbatore police arrested him from Theni. The vehicle that was taking him to Coimbatore met with an accident, which many of his supporters allege was stage-managed, an allegation that senior officers vehemently denied.

Not everyone accepts Shankar as a ‘journalist’, pointing out how he does not follow the rules of the trade, including verifying the information from multiple sources, giving the other side an opportunity to respond to the allegation, or not bringing in personal opinion in the matter that is under discussion.

Strictly speaking, Shankar is not a journalist. But that did not do anything to reduce his popularity, as many consider him as someone who treads the path that most mainstream journalists avoid due to various reasons. In the process, he made several enemies, but a lot more fans and followers.

As his emergence since the first case proved, the authorities miscalculated and underestimated him. From a person who proudly proclaims “suspended clerk” in the social media bio, and one who penned a book about jail life immediately after getting released, it remains to be seen what he would do after this time.