Two days after a prominent actor in the Malayalam film industry was abducted in a car in Kochi, following which a case of rape was filed against her abductors, the horror of the incident refuses to die down.
On Monday, the special investigating team took into custody a suspect named Anwar, who is believed to have been in touch with the prime accused, Sunil Kumar alias Pulsar Suni. While the police have reportedly identified all the seven accused in the case, only three have been arrested so far.
As details of the criminal background of the accused begin to surface, questions are being raised as to how they continue to work in the film industry despite being habitual offenders.
Even as the police intensifies its search, the question that needs asking is on the criminalisation of the film industry itself.
Do actors hire people with criminal backgrounds for their own protection? An investigating officer told The Times of India, on condition of anonymity, that actors tend to do so, for they often travel with huge sum of money with them.
Though there has been an "uprising" in the Malayalam film industry following the incident, hardly anyone has so far addressed this matter.
Participating in a debate show on Asianet News on Sunday night, lawyer Harish Vasudevan said that leading actors hire criminals as drivers and body guards.
Late on Sunday, several media reports suggested the involvement of producer Anto Joseph in the crime. Many media outlets stated that Anto Joseph had made repeated calls to Pulsar Suni on the night of the crime and had helped him escape. In a Facebook post on Sunday, senior journalist Ullekh NP reasoned why Anto Joseph was not subjected to questioning by the police.
Late on Sunday, several media reports suggested the involvement of producer Anto Joseph in the crime. Many media outlets stated that Anto Joseph had made repeated calls to Pulsar Suni on the night of the crime and had helped him escape.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, senior journalist Ullekh NP reasoned why Anto Joseph was not subjected to questioning by the police.
He said that he had gone to actor and producer Lal's house after the latter asked him to.
“Ranji Panicker called me at around 11:30 pm on Friday night to inform me about what happened to our friend. At the time, I noticed that I had several missed calls from Lal. Ranji Panicker told me that he was in Alappuzha and that he wants me to go to Lal’s residence at the earliest. My driver wasn’t home, so I personally drove my car to Lal’s place. Since the matter was a serious one, I asked MLA PT Thomas to come along with me. When we reached there, the survivor (actor) was crying and recounting the incident. Thrikkakara AC was taking the actor’s statement. At the time, her driver was sitting there and the MLA said that there were enough reasons to suspect him. The actor said that she recognised one of the accused, Sunil. I asked the driver whether he knew him. Though he first evaded the question, he admitted that Sunil was involved. I took Sunil’s number from him and called him from my phone in the presence of all others, including the MLA. Though he answered my call, he immediately disconnected when I said who I am," he told Manorama News.
In another startling revelation, MLA PT Thomas, who met the survivor on Friday night, said that the accused told the actor that they were contract criminals. They allegedly threatened to take her to an apartment in the city and harass her along with several others, the MLA said.
“At a time when the police are themselves confirming that there has been a conspiracy and a well-thought out plan to attack the actor, is it not time to probe whether only these accused were involved in the criminal conspiracy? Two of the arrested persons are part of contract criminal gang. How can such people have a long-standing grudge against the actor? Are there more people behind this crime? The police should investigate these aspects. Like in the past, such aspects have been drowned in money and muscle power. I hope they don’t delay the investigation in this case,” Vinayan wrote on Facebook.
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