Malayalam actor Shine Tom Chacko arrested in drug case, released
The actor has been asked to appear before the probe team on April 21 or 22.
The actor has been asked to appear before the probe team on April 21 or 22.
The actor has been asked to appear before the probe team on April 21 or 22.
Kochi: Malayalam actor Shine Tom Chacko, who was arrested in a drug case, was released after completing procedures at the Ernakulam North Police Station on Saturday. The 41-year-old was released from police custody around 5.30 pm, following a medical examination at the Ernakulam Government General Hospital. He has been asked to appear before the probe team on April 21 or 22.
Police have sent his samples, including blood, nail and hair, for a scientific examination to confirm his drug abuse. The samples will be sent to a laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram, and the results will be available within 24 hours.
As he confessed to committing a cognizable offence, a notice was served to the actor for further procedures, including a medical examination. After the procedures, he was released from police custody. Shine refused to respond to the media while leaving the police station.
Kochi City Police filed a case against the actor after interrogating him for nearly four hours on Saturday in connection with a drug raid at a hotel. Shine has been slapped with sections 27 b, 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, which deal with punishment for consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance and abetment and criminal conspiracy. Apart from the actor, police also booked Malappuram native Ahammad Murshad (25), who was in the hotel room with the actor in Kochi when the DANSAF team conducted a raid on April 16.
The police also filed a case under section 238 of BNS against him for destroying evidence and giving false information to protect an offender. The case has been registered at Ernakulam Town North police station.
During the questioning, Shine confessed to having used the drug. "When asked why he ran off when the DANSAF team arrived at the hotel, he said that he left the room, dreading somebody was trying to assault him," a senior police official said. The cops, however, said that the statement given by Shine on hurriedly leaving the hotel has to be verified.
Shine appeared for questioning at the station, accompanied by his lawyer, after he was issued a notice by the Ernakulam Town North police. In the wake of a recent court verdict which acquitted him in a drug case registered at Kadavanthra police station in 2015, the Kochi city police have prepared a detailed questionnaire focusing on his travel history, call records and contacts to gather evidence to establish his alleged use of narcotic substances. With the police filing an FIR based on his confession, the police will take legal steps to seize his mobile phone for a detailed forensic analysis.