Was Malayalam actor's abduction a ‘quotation’?

Prime accused give police the slip again; Chief Minister calls up actor, promises her all support

Members of the film fraternity take a pledge in Thiruvananthapurm on Monday, in solidarity with the actor who was molested in Kochi two days ago.

Amidst strong suspicions on the motive behind the abduction of a female actor in Ernakulam last week, the Special Investigation Team has begun probing whether the seven-member gang had acted at the behest of a third party.

Official sources said the actor, in her statement to the police, had told that Pulsar Suni, the key accused, while attacking her in a car had claimed the operation was a ‘quotation’ and threatened to take her to a flat in Vennala if she continued to resist. The interrogation of the three accused in custody have so far failed to bring out any leads on the outside intervention. During interrogation, they had told the police that the abduction was planned with an intention to extort money from the actor through blackmail.

Besides Suni, Vijesh and Manikandan had also entered the actor’s car during the kidnap, they told the police.

Since Martin and Suni were not enrolled with the cine drivers union under the Film Employees Federation of Kerala, the police are also probing how the duo had been recruited as drivers by a film production unit.

Escape act

Meanwhile, Pulsar Suni gave the police a slip for the second time on Monday morning. The police had traced another of the mobile number used by him and learned he would visit the house of his friend in Ambalappuzha to collect money. However, by the time the police traced the house, Suni had fled the scene. Later the police took his friend Anwar into custody on finding that he had given ₹10,000 to Suni. The police had earlier tracked Suni to Gandhinagar in Kochi. However, he sensed danger and gave a slip after switching off his mobile. The police have also found that the gang had split into two soon after the operation and one of them had reached Kakkazham in Alappuzha to meet their friends. The investigators have collected evidence from 49 people in connection with the case.

Meanwhile, agencies reported that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called up the actor and promised her all support and stern action against those responsible.