The key accused in Shamna Kasim extortion case was nabbed by Kochi city police on Monday. According to police Haris, reportedly a Thrissur native, is the main conspirator behind the crime.
With Haris’s arrest, eight people in total have been arrested by police in connection with the case.
“Haris’s exact role in the crime can only be revealed after a proper interrogation, but he is a main conspirator in the case. With this, all the prime accused in the case have been nabbed and the investigation in the Shamna case is almost coming to an end. After Haris’s interrogation, the whole picture of the conspiracy will be out,” said Kochi City Police Commissioner Vijay Sakhare, speaking to the media on Monday.
It last week that a Kerala gang, who have been allegedly involved in blackmail, human trafficking and gold smuggling, was busted by the police after a complaint by actor Shamna Kasim. The group of men had allegedly threatened and demanded money from the actor on the pretext of a marriage alliance.
Meanwhile, in another development, the police summoned actor Dharmajan Bolgatty in connection with the case, after his phone number was found from one of the accused’s phones.
While Kochi Police Commissioner did not reveal why the film actor was summoned, Dharmajan, who talked to the media, said that one of the accused had called him to ask the contact number of the actors Shamna and Miya.
“One of them who introduced as Ashkar Ali had contacted me twice or thrice during the lockdown. He was introduced as someone part of a smuggling team, who used celebrities to smuggle gold and he asked for Shamna’s and Miya’s contact numbers. I did not give them. I have come to know that they got my number through a production controller. I have given the call records to the police,” he said.
While Dharmajan said that the accused must have called him since he recently acted in a movie with Shamna, he also said that he did not inform the actors about such enquiry calls.
Following Shamna’s complaint, more women, including models and actors in Kerala, had come out with other complaints against the gang. On the complaint of a model from Alappuzha, human trafficking charges were also added to the FIR against the men.
Commissioner Vijay Sakhare on Monday also said that more FIRs will be registered in the coming days as few others have also filed complaints against the gang.
“Four other women have said that they were cheated like Shamna, where the gang approached the woman on the pretext of marriage proposals,” added Vijay Sakhare.
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