Kochi, 22 April

The Kerala government is viewing the drugs-related allegations and case against actor Shine Tom Chacko very seriously, with the police as well as the Excise department effectively intervening in the matter, state Law Minister P Rajeev said on Tuesday.

The minister also said that no person or sector would be exempted from the ambit of the law.

Rajeev, responding to queries from reporters about the allegations by actress Vincy Aloshious against Chacko, said that the government was considering the matter very seriously and will take strict action against such behaviour as alleged against the actor.

He also said that Chacko was acquitted in an earlier case due to the failure of the police probe, according to the courts.

The minister said that the investigation back then occurred during the UDF rule, but now the government in power has taken a strict stand in the matter, and all its machinery, including the police and excise, were working in coordination.

Meanwhile, the police said that an investigation into the latest drugs case against Chacko was going on and that it would seek expediting of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report of the samples taken from the actor.

Kochi City Police Commissioner Putta Vimaladitya also told reporters that a lot of things need to be investigated, and calling Chacko before completing that would not be beneficial for the case.

He also said that the police will be looking into the names of people who visited the actor when he was staying at the hotel from where he had allegedly fled when a District Anti-Narcotic Special Action Force (DANSAF) team carried out a raid there.

Chacko has been booked under section 238 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and sections 27 (drug consumption) and 29 (abetment and criminal conspiracy) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, in connection with that incident.

According to the FIR, a District Anti-Narcotic Special Action Force (DANSAF) team under Kochi City Police found the actor and another person using drugs and engaged in a criminal conspiracy in Room No 314 of a hotel near Kaloor last week.

Upon noticing the police, Chacko allegedly fled through a window in an alleged attempt to destroy evidence.

Vincy Aloshious has filed a complaint with the Film Chamber, accusing Chacko of inappropriate behaviour while under the influence of drugs on a movie set.

She has also informed the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) about his misconduct on the sets of the unreleased film 'Soothravakyam', though no police complaint has been filed.

The Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court had recently acquitted Chacko in a 2015 drug case, citing procedural lapses by the police during the seizure and arrest.