Malayalam actor Shine Tom Chacko appeared before the police on Saturday, April 19, two days after he fled his hotel room during a narcotics raid in Kochi. Shine arrived at the Ernakulam North police station around 10 am. According to reports, the actor will be questioned by a team headed by Kochi city police Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) C Jayakumar.
Shine fled the hotel on the intervening night of April 16 and 17, and had been missing since. He faces accusations of drug use and misbehaviour with a woman actor on a film set.
The escape was during a midnight search by the Kerala police’s District Anti-Narcotic Special Action Force (DANSAF), a squad dedicated to anti-narcotics enforcement, on Wednesday, April 16. Later, the police said that they found nothing in Shine’s room.
Following Shine’s escape, TV channels aired CCTV footage of Shine leaving the hotel. He reportedly fled the scene by jumping from the third floor to the second and then into a swimming pool. He then ran out onto the road, and reportedly flagged down a two-wheeler rider to escape.
This dramatic escape occurred shortly after Malayalam actor Vincy Aloshious made a statement about the drug use of a co-actor, without naming anyone. Vincy also alleged that the actor had misbehaved with her on set. She filed a complaint with the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists and the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce. However, she decided not to file a police complaint regarding this matter.
Earlier, MB Rajesh, the Minister for the Excise Department, had said that Shine will be questioned even though a formal complaint has not yet been filed against him.