Perumbavoor: The main suspect in a case related to the abduction of a movie actress Friday night has several criminal cases pending against him. Sunil Kumar (35), also known as ‘Pulsar’ Suni for his love of the motorbike, was sacked as the actress’ driver earlier due to bad conduct.
The suspect, a native of Ilambakappilly near Kodanad, orchestrated the kidnapping of the actor with help from a criminal gang in Kochi, the police said. The actress was followed and waylaid by the criminals in two cars, they added.
The police suspect that the actor’s tormentors had other intentions than taking her photos and using them for blackmailing her. Also under the scanner are a few people in the cinema industry who had personal problems with the actor.
The timing of the attack forces the police to look for other motives than molestation and blackmailing. The actor had announced her wedding recently.
The victim, however, did not name anyone when she was asked if she could think of anyone who might be involved in the attack, like someone who worked with her in her current project. On Friday night, the actor was sent home from the shooting location in a car driven by a stranger, who is now a suspect in the case. Apparently, he made no attempt to ward off the criminals when they waylaid them and barged into the car.
The main suspect, Sunil Kumar, has been a jailbird. He is remembered in his native locality for his involvement in skirmishes and other illegal activities right from his school days.
He is seldom seen in the village nowadays, his neighbors said, except for short visits in luxury cars. He catches up with his friends and neighbors and goes away for months.
His father is a daily-wage laborer. He has a mother and sister too.
He faces a case for stealing a motorbike in 2006 in the local police station at Kodanad. He is accused in several other cases in Kalamassery and Eloor police stations. The cases range from blackmailing and extortion to fraud and theft of hired cars.
He seems to have more connections with the criminal gangs of Kochi than the groups operating in Kodanad with a heavy concentration of quarries and sand mining.