Vinayakan was arrested for causing trouble at the police station. Later, he was let off on bail after due procedure.
Published Oct 25, 2023 | 2:58 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 25, 2023 | 2:58 PM
Actor Vinayakan at the police station. (Uma Thomas/ Facebook)
Malayalam actor Vinayakan’s penchant for landing himself in controversy continues. In the latest instance, the cops in Kerala are being accused of going easy on the actor after he created a ruckus at a police station in Kochi in an allegedly inebriated state.
The actor is said to have caused a commotion at the Ernakulam Town North police station on Tuesday, 24 October, where he was summoned by the police over a dispute with his wife at his apartment.
The Opposition Congress — which has had a run-in with Vinayakan for the uncharitable remarks he made about former chief minister Oommen Chandy after his death — accused the Kerala Police of invoking only bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Vinayakan despite his alleged drunken antics at the police station.
In a hard-hitting Facebook post, Congress leader and Thrikkakkara MLA Uma Thomas alleged that weak sections were slapped against the actor, and he was released on station bail despite his bad behaviour and obstruction of officers on duty.
She asked whether his sudden release was a “privilege of being a comrade”, a reference to communists. Thomas also sought to know whether the award-winning actor was released as per instructions from Cliff House.
Cliff House is the official residence of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The MLA, in the Facebook post on Tuesday, also pointed out that the act would demoralise the police officers who work with dignity.
However, Kochi DCP Sasidharan rejected the charges and said the police would not yield to any kind of influence, and Vinayakan had been imposed with sections which may earn him punishment for up to three years.
“Police will not yield to any influence,” he told reporters in Kochi.
To a question, the officer said it would be examined whether the actor had verbally abused the police personnel at the station.
Video footage would be examined and relevant sections would be slapped if necessary, he added.
The DCP also said that a non-bailable section would exist only if there was any criminal force against anyone.
Vinayakan was arrested for causing trouble at the police station. The actor was then taken to a nearby hospital for necessary medical examination, the police said.
Later, he was let off on bail after due procedure.
Meanwhile, Vinayakan, while leaving with the police from the hospital after his medical examination, told media persons that he was unaware of why he was arrested.
Kochi, Kerala | Circle Inspector of Police Prathapachandran says, “Actor Vinayakan was released on bail after a case was filed against him for a ruckus at a police station in an inebriated state. A case was registered after a Policeman was assaulted and the station’s operations… pic.twitter.com/0T4p1Lmato
— ANI (@ANI) October 25, 2023
In June, a plea was filed in the Kerala High Court seeking directions to Indigo Airlines to initiate action against Vinayakan for allegedly abusing a co-passenger in May. The plea was filed by the co-passenger who was allegedly abused by Vinayakan.
Considering the plea, Justice KV Kunhikrishnan, on 13 June, directed the petitioner’s counsel to implead Vinayakan as a respondent in the petition.
According to the petitioner, on 27 May, while waiting at Goa airport — during a layover from Chandigarh to Kochi — he noticed a crowd near the boarding bridge. However, he kept watching a video on his mobile phone.
Soo after, actor Vinayakan — who was boarding the same flight — started abusing him and accusing him of shooting his (Vinyakan’s) video.
Though the petitioner reiterated that he did not shoot any video and even offered to let the actor check his phone, Vinayakan kept abusing the former.
“It appeared that he (Vinayakan) was drunk and was behaving in an unruly manner,” the petitioner alleged in the plea, as reported by the Bar and Bench.
A couple of days after the demise of the Congress stalwart Oommen Chandy, Vinayakan, in a Facebook video post, asked “Who is this Oommen Chandy?” and “Why three days’ mourning had been declared in the state on his demise”.
The Kammatti Padam actor also criticised the media for the wide coverage given to the procession carrying Chandy’s mortal remains to his home village Puthuppally in the Kottayam district.
Following social media outrage and widespread criticism from various quarters, Vinayakan later withdrew the video from his Facebook account.
While the Congress condemned Vinayakan’s remarks as distasteful, a party activist in Kochi registered a police complaint against the actor for insulting Oommen Chandy and sought immediate action against him.
Oommen Chandy’s son Chandy Oommen, who later won the byelection to the Puthupally seat that his father had lorded over for over 50 years, had appealed for the withdrawal of the complaint against the actor.
(With PTI inputs)
