Malayalam actor Shine Tom Chacko was arrested on Saturday (April 19) by Kerala Police in connection with a suspected drug-related case. The arrest follows an incident where the actor allegedly fled from a Kochi hotel during an anti-drug raid earlier this week.
Before his arrest, the actor was interrogated for nearly four hours, reports stated.
According to media reports, the Kochi city police had served a notice to Chacko on Friday, directing him to appear for questioning. As the actor was reportedly not present at his Thrissur residence at the time, officials handed over the notice to his family members.
Reportedly, the police stated that the questioning was crucial to investigate the circumstances under which the actor allegedly attempted to evade authorities during the anti-drug raid. His arrest comes as part of a wider crackdown on drug-related activities in the region.
He has been booked under Sections 27 (consumption of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances) and 29 (abetment and criminal conspiracy) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
On April 16, Tom Chacko leaped out of the window on the third floor of a hotel in Kochi to escape from a police team that had come to check for the presence of narcotic substances.
The actor reportedly landed on the parapet of the second floor and then jumped into the hotel’s swimming pool. He was later spotted on CCTV fleeing the hotel’s lobby. However, no drugs were found in his room.
The dramatic escape happened during an inspection by the District Anti-Narcotic Special Action Force (DANSAF) team. Shine has been in and out of drug scandals.
Shine tom Chacko erangi odii ennoke 🏃🏽 pic.twitter.com/MVtfjyjqvK
— J!shnu Sugathan (@CoconutMurder) April 17, 2025
His escape follows a complaint by Malayalam actress Vincy Aloshious that he had misbehaved with her during the shooting of a movie reportedly under the influence of drugs. She had detailed the incident in a petition to an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).
Shine was also arrested in 2015 for allegedly possessing drugs. In February 2025, Shine, along with all the other accused, were acquitted by the Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court. The court, however, criticised the police for procedural lapses during the arrest which led to the acquittal.
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