Kerala excise minister MB Rajesh said on Sunday that the state government and its police and excise wings will deal with the drugs lobby with ‘an iron fist’ and that no industry will be given any preference or concession in the war against drugs.
The minister’s statement comes just a day after prominent Malayalam actor Shine Tom Chacko was arrested by the Kochi city police in a drugs-related case and booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Chacko has also been accused of misbehaviour towards an actor on a film set after consuming drugs, though no FIR has been filed yet in the regard.
“The state is involved in a war against drugs and the police and excise departments are working on a war footing against drugs with strong measures. It has been made clear several times that no field or industry is given any kind of special attention,” Rajesh told reporters in Palakkad on Sunday.
“The goal is to completely make our state devoid of drugs. No special attention will be given to celebrities. This (drugs) is a social evil. We will deal with it with an iron fist. There will be inspections everywhere and any information will be deemed valuable,” he added.
The minister also stated that he spoke to the actor who has agreed to cooperate with any drug-related investigation. She had earlier said she was not interested in pursuing a police complaint against the actor after filing a formal complaint with the internal committee of the film and the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce against Chacko last week. She had also claimed that she wanted to keep the name of the accused actor and the concerned film confidential in order to avoid hurting the film’s prospects.
Rajesh said, “I spoke to the actor and I commended her for taking a strong stand that she will not act with those who consume drugs. Everyone should come forward to take such a stand. She has said she will cooperate with the investigation and is ready to talk about the issues she raised.”
He said those in the film industry must ‘not isolate’ those who take a stern public position against drugs.
The Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce has scheduled an urgent meeting on Monday (April 21) to discuss and act on the complaint filed by the actor against Chacko.
Saji Nanthyat, an office-bearer of the Chamber, had said last week that Monday’s meeting would take strong action against Chacko based on the available evidence and testimony. Copies of the complaint have also been forwarded to Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).
However, in a twist, the crew members of the film including the producer and the director said on Saturday that they came to know about the alleged misbehaviour on the part of Chacko only after the actor spoke about the same in an Instagram video.
“The internal complaints committee of the film did not get a formal complaint on the sets from the woman actor. We got to know about it only after she spoke about it on Instagram. In our knowledge, there was no such incident on the film sets,” said Eugien Jose Chirammel, in a press conference.