Two held for assault on Kerala actress

THE MAIN ACCUSED, PULSAR SUNIL, THE FORMER DRIVER OF THE ACTOR AND A KNOWN CRIMINAL, IS STILL AT LARGE

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala police arrested two men in neighboring Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore on Sunday for the abduction and molestation of a leading Malayalam actor, an incident that triggered outrage equally among the public, film fraternity and political parties.

An intensive hunt has been launched to capture main suspect Sunil Kumar alias Pulsar Suni, a former driver of the actor. Lookout notices are issued in airports and railway stations.

“We have definite leads about the remaining five,” inspector general of police Dinesh Kashyap said.

The popular actor was allegedly taken hostage on the way from Thrissur to Kochi on Friday and molested for two hours by a five-member gang. The criminals took pictures and videos to blackmail her before letting her go.

The 30-year-old actor, who had worked in more than 75 movies in several southern languages since debuting as a teenager, was returning home from a film shoot. The actor said in her statement to police that her car was hit by a van somewhere in Athani. When her driver, Martin, stopped to check the damage, the gangsters boarded her car and took off.

After nearly two hours of drive through Kochi city, they left the actor in her car at Palarivattam. A while later, she pulled herself up and alerted a movie director, who called police.

Officers arrested Martin, who was allegedly driving the actor’s car, on Saturday. After examining his mobile phone call log, they found he was in constant touch with Suni, the lynchpin.

The actor’s driver is suspected to have followed her car in the gangsters’ van.

Police suspect the gang of having assaulted women in a similar way in the past, and blackmailed them. Leading film producer Suresh Kumar said his wife Maneka, a yesteryear actor, had a similar experience five years ago in Kochi when prime suspect Suni, a known driver among the film fraternity, chased her car for some time. “I did complain, but nothing happened,” Kumar said.