A Sub-Inspector was beaten up by a group of people after he was allegedly found in the residence of a small-time serial actress near Kochi, police said.

They allegedly beat up the SI of a local police station and also misbehaved with the woman on Thursday evening and virtually held them captive for about two hours before police rescued them.

Police said they have registered a case against 15 people for allegedly beating up the SI and seven persons for misbehaving with the woman.

Social media went abuzz with the story of the alleged "moral policing" by the local people.

Police said they could reach the place and rescue the SI after two hours of the incident as his mobile phone was seized by the attackers.

A top official probing the case said the SI's explanation about the episode was not satisfactory and he was likely to face disciplinary action for violating police code.

Muvattupuzha DSP Prabhullachandran submitted a report to Ernakulam Rural SP P N Unnirajan about the incident today.

Meanwhile, officials in the police station suspected the drug mafia was behind the incident.

According to them, three of the people who attacked the SI had been held earlier on charges of drug trafficking.