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by IANS |
Kochi, April 25 (IANS) Two days after Malayalam actors Shine Tom Chacko and Sreenath Bhasi were summoned, the Kerala Excise Department on Friday issued summons to three more people asking them to appear for questioning.
The move follows the arrest of Tasleem Sultana and one of her accomplices from a resort near Alappuzha on April 1, after a tip-off.
The operation resulted in the seizure of hybrid ganja worth approximately Rs 2 crore in the open market.
Later, the Excise officials arrested one more person who is closely associated with Sultana.
The names of the three have been withheld as, at the moment, there is a lack of evidence against them, but what has surfaced is that they had frequent interactions with Sultana.
The three include a Kochi-based female model, a person who has close links with the Malayalam film industry and another man who was a participant in a popular reality show.
Even though the Excise officials are pursuing the case regarding matters connected to drugs, during the interrogation of the three arrested, they have stumbled on evidence with regards to gold smuggling and even an alleged sex racket.
This evidence, which the Excise got, will soon be transferred to the Kerala Police.
Officials said the arrests of Sultana and her accomplices were made after a three-month surveillance operation.
During interrogation, Sultana allegedly named several clients from the Malayalam film industry, including actors Chacko and Bhasi.
Sensing trouble, Bhasi had filed an anticipatory bail plea, which he withdrew within hours before the Kerala High Court.
Excise officials had earlier stated that they would summon the actors if needed.
It was following detailed questioning of Sultana and her associates that notices were issued to Chacko and Bhasi, and on further probe, they stumbled upon three more people.
The Excise officials are now planning to question the five people who have been asked to appear before them individually and also jointly.
Excise officials, with assistance from digital forensic experts, are understood to have retrieved crucial chat messages between Bhasi and Sultana. Sultana, originally from Kannur, is believed to have operated out of Chennai, frequently travelling to Kochi and Alappuzha -- key locations in her alleged distribution network.
Apart from her suspected involvement in narcotics, she is known to have worked in minor film roles and assisted with script translations, which gave her access to the film industry.
This is not her first brush with the law -- she has a prior record in a sex racket case.
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