Vijayaraghavan death: 'Bangalore Days' actor responds to hoax

Reports on Vijayaraghavan's death started circulating on WhatsApp and Facebook on Wednesday The messages were accompanied by an image of an ambulance that had a garlanded photo of the actor "I've busy responding to the phone calls and messages which expressed shock over my death"

Veteran Malayalam actor Vijayaraghavan became the latest victim of the death hoax, social media's favourite game in recent years.

Reports on Vijayaraghavan's death started circulating on WhatsApp and Facebook on Wednesday. The messages were accompanied by an image of an ambulance that had a garlanded photo of the actor pasted on its windshield. The news and photo flooded the internet on Wednesday, with thousands believing the hoax.

Vijayaraghavan has now come out, playing down the rumours and also requested his friends and fans to not be fooled by the news.

"I've busy responding to the phone calls and messages which expressed shock over my death. I didn't even realise what happened initially, then my son forwarded me a WhatsApp message about my death," the actor said maintaining his dry humour.

Vijayaraghavan said the photo of the ambulance with his 'body' circulating on the internet was a location still from the film 'Ramaleela', starring Dileep in the lead.

The actor said he is not going to file a police complaint regarding the incident and would prefer to just forget the episode. However, police chief TP Senkumar has ordered a probe and warned stern action against those who spread the hoax on WhatsApp and Facebook.

Vijayaraghavan, son of thespian NN Pillai, is best known for his performances in Ramji Rao Speaking, Meleparambil Aanveedu, Ravanaprabhu, Leela and Bangalore Days.