Pulsar Suni, the prime accused in the abduction and alleged rape of a prominent Malayalam actor, was arrested as he tried to surrender before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of Ernakulam. Another accused in the case, Vijeesh, also tried to surrender to the ACJM, but was instead arrested.
According to television reports Pulsar Suni, Vijeesh and their lawyers reached the court in a vehicle. Jumping out of the vehicle, they rushed into the Magistrate’s chamber. They declared to the Magistrate office staff sitting in a room adjacent to the Magistrate's chamber that they were surrendering. But the Magistrate was not in his chamber, and had gone out for lunch. Plainclothes policemen who had been posted in the court rushed to the Magistrate's chamber as the news of Suni's arrival spread.
Within minutes, more police personnel rushed into the court, arrested the duo and immediately took both Suni and Vijeesh away in a car. Visuals on TV channels show the two men resisting the arrest and saying that they wanted to speak to the Magistrate.
Suni came to the court on Thursday afternoon by around 1 pm, six days after the incident took place. A police team, headed by senior officers was unable to trace Suni after he was named by the actor herself in her FIR.
According to TV reports, Suni's lawyers have objected to the police's behaviour and have said that it was illegal to arrest a person who had come forward to surrender.
A few days ago, there was major drama in Kochi with information that Suni had reached the premises of the court to surrender, but he apparently left as the police came to arrest him.
Suni and two others - Manikandan and Vijeesh - were absconding since Saturday. While Manikandan was arrested on Tuesday, the other two accused were missing until Thursday.
Pulsar Suni had also applied for anticipatory bail and claimed in the application that he had been implicated in the case. The Kerala High Court had deferred his anticipatory bail plea to March 3.
The arrest just ahead of surrender comes as a huge embarrassment to the police who have been hunting him since Friday night, but were unable to catch him.