Bobby Chemmanur (file)
| Photo Credit: MOHD ARIF
The Kochi City police in Kerala have taken into custody businessman Bobby Chemmanur hardly 24 hours since registering a case against him on a complaint by a woman actor accusing him of making sexually loaded comments against her on social media and also personally while attending an inaugural function.
A special investigation team (SIT) led by the Ernakulam Central police inspector took him into custody from another district on Wednesday (January 8, 2025) morning. He is being brought to the Central police station and his arrest will be formally recorded.
He has been booked under non-bailable charges, including Section 75(4) (making sexually coloured remarks as a form of sexual harassment) under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the IT Act. Hence, he will be produced before the court.
The actor had lodged the complaint personally at the Central station complete with digital evidence on Tuesday (January 7, 2025) evening. This was the second case to be registered by the Central police on as many complaints by the actor. On Sunday, she had lodged a complaint against 30 persons for allegedly making sexually loaded comments beneath her social media post.
The police had since arrested one Shaji, 60, of Kumbalam in the first case, while the probe is on for the remaining 29 accused many of whom have deleted not just their allegedly offensive comments but even the social media profiles used to post those comments.
“We have all along take the position that we make no difference between between Bobby Chemmanur and Shaji. His custody is the culmination of our action initiated from the moment we registered the case on Tuesday evening. He was taken into custody from a faraway district,” said C. Jayakumar, Assistant Commissioner, Ernakulam Central Subdivision, who is supervising the probe.
There are reports that he was taken into custody from Wayanad.
Shortly after lodging petition against Mr. Chemmanur, the actor had made a social media post in the form of a letter addressed to him. “I have lodged a complaint at the Ernakulam Central police against you for continuously making voyeuristic slurs at me. Complaints against others having similar psychological makeup like you will follow. You may trust the might of your money. I have strong faith in India’s legal system,” her post read.
The actor had in a social media post on Sunday said that a person, whom she did not name, was stalking her and through innuendos was trying to humiliate her after she had declined the invitation from the person to participate in some events. Since then, the person in question, as if in revenge, attended the functions to which she was invited. There were reports that the man the actor referred to was Mr. Chemmanur.
Published – January 08, 2025 11:35 am IST
