Popular Telugu singer Ghazal Srinivas was arrested on Tuesday on charges of sexual harassment and a court later sent him to judicial custody till January 12.

The singer, whose real name is Kesiraju Srinivas, was shifted to Chanchalguda Central Jail. His bail petition will come up for hearing on Wednesday.

Srinivas was taken into custody on charges of sexually harassing a woman, working as jockey for a web radio 'Alayavani' (voice of temples) run by Save Temple Organisation. He is the brand ambassador of the save temples movement.

A case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against the singer in Panjagutta police station in the city.

The woman complained that Srinivas, who is popular for singing ghazals in Telugu, was harassing her for the last few months, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Vijay Kumar.

She alleged that the singer made her do his body massage. She also provided video recording and other evidence to the police.

Denying the allegation, Srinivas said he always treated the woman like his daughter. Stating that he recently met with an accident and a physiotherapist used to visit him for the massage, he said that one day when he did not turn up, the woman offered to do the massage.

The 51-year-old holds the Guinness World Record for singing in most languages (76) at one concert.

(Source: IANS)