Prime accused in actress' kidnap still absconding

Thiruvananthapuram/Kochi, Feb 22 (IANS) Kerala Police on Wednesday were still on the lookout for Pulsar Sunil, prime accused in last week's abduction of a popular Malayalam actress, even as former state BJP president V. Muraleedharan threatened a stir if police were unable to crack the case. In another development, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, breaking his silence on the issue, said that police were doing their best to nab the culprit. "What has happened should never happen, not just to an actress, but to any one. The police was quick to get into the act and have made few arrests. They are on the trail of the prime accused," Vijayan told the media here. The Chief Minister shrugged off a question on reports that the son of a top party politician may be involved in the case. The state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership had brought up the name of the son of a leading politician and also the role of a CPI-M activist from Kannur in the kidnap case. The actress was abducted on February 17 while travelling from Thrissur to Kochi by road. She was dumped near director-turned-actor Lal's house, from where the police were informed and her driver Martin was arrested. The victim told the police that Pulsar Sunil committed the crime at the behest of others. Sunil reportedly told the actress that he had been hired to kidnap her and if she resisted, he would have to use force. The police is on the search for Pulsar Sunil and his associate, and have split into three teams with two teams searching for him in Tamil Nadu. Five people involved in the kidnap case are in police custody so far. P.T. Thomas, the Congress legislator who reached the home of Lal soon after learning of the incident, told reporters in Kochi on Wednesday that it is clear that there were flaws in the police probe. He said while the state police chief was informed about the incident very soon, the top police officials in Kochi came to know about it much later. He said valuable time elapsed and by then, the prime accused and others managed to escape. "The police have now to explain what happened," said Thomas. Former state BJP president V. Muraleedharan, in a statement issued on Wednesday said that this kidnap attempt took place after a month's planning and the police still are unable to crack the case. "We will not sit idle and if the police does not do a clean job, they (we) will launch a protest," said Muraleedharan. On Wednesday, a section of the film fraternity, the Producers Association, met here and decided to henceforth verify past records of all those associated with the production crew. In a related development, a few prominent newspapers on Wednesday said the police has taken a detailed statement from a leading Kochi-based actor, rumoured to be Dileep. Responding to that, Dileep said via his Facebook post that media should name the actor -- and clarified that he has not been questioned by the police. Dileep had last week at a meeting called by the film fraternity to condemn the kidnapping incident, had requested the media not to twist their reports in the case.