Actress abduction: Main accused in custody

“We have taken them into custody. We had deployed our men in the city. They managed to get them,” Ernakulam Range I G P Vijayan told PTI. Visuals aired by news channels showed the duo being forcefully taken into custody by police as they were about to enter the Ernakulam Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate court building to surrender at around 1.10 pm on Thursday at lunch break. 

Advocates of the accused made a vain bid to prevent police from entering the building and taking them into custody. They were later taken to Aluva police club for questioning. The lawyers charged the police with forcefully taking their clients into custody from the court room itself. The accused allegedly entered the court room wearing helmets. 

The developments come a day after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asserted that every effort was being made to trace the key accused in the abduction and assault of  the actress. Police had earlier arrested four accused in the case. “Police action has been fruitful and government views the matter seriously,” Vijayan, who also holds the Home portfolio, had told reporters on Wednesday.