Malayalam actor Jayasurya's encroachment into the Chilavanoor lake in Kochi was demolished by the city Corporation on Wednesday. The actor whose house is located at the heart of the city, right beside the lake, had built a private boat jetty behind his residence.
The demolition was initiated after the tribunal for local bodies rejected the petition filed by the actor against the knocking down of the jetty, a Mathrubhumi report said.
A year-and-a-half-ago, public activist Girish Babu filed a petition against the encroachment and the Corporation issued a notice to the actor to demolish it. Reacting to this, Jayasurya filed an appeal petition with the local self-government, but they too ruled that the encroachment should be demolished.
Another complaint has been raised that the actor encroached the 'poromboke' land by building a compound wall, the Mathrubhumi report added. The Muvattupuzha vigilance court asked for a report on the complaint about the compound wall. The Corporation officials, however, allege that it was the irrigation department which placed the stones here and the wall was built atop that.
Jayasurya (39) began his acting career as a mimicry artist and made his debut in Mollywood with the film Pathram in 1999, starring Suresh Gopi and Manju Warrier. He has since acted in over 100 films and is also a producer with 6 movies to his credit. One of his biggest successes as a producer is Aadu 2, a massive box-office hit in 2017. Aadu 2 starred Jayasurya in the lead along with Vinayakan and Vijay Babu.
According to the reports, the actor and the Corporation have had issues since 2013, when he filled a few potholes on the road with gravel. Reacting to this, then mayor, Tony Chammany, called it a 'third-rate publicity stunt'.