The Kerala Police raided film director Sreekumar Menon's house on Thursday on the basis of Malayalam film actress Manju Warrier's complaint against him.
A team led by Crime Branch DySP C D Sreenivasan also raided his Palakkad office. Sreekumar Menon will be questioned by the police next Sunday.
The Thrissur East Police Station had filed a case against Sreekumar Menon after Manju Warrier filed a complaint against him with Kerala Police Chief Loknath Behera.
The grounds for registering the case against Menon included outraging the modesty of women, stalking and indecent representation of women via social media.
In her complaint, Manju alleged that Menon has been threatening and defaming her. She also handed over digital evidence to support her claims.
"After the release of Odiyan, I have been receiving defamatory messages on social media. I have been subjected to cyber attacks. I tried to ignore them, but Menon has been troubling me. Menon and his friend Mathew Samuel have been posting defamatory statements against me. I am afraid that he may harm me," Manju Warrier had stated in her complaint.
She also alleged that Sreekumar Menon has been misusing the letterhead of Manju Warrier Foundation and blank cheques signed by her.
Manju Warrier played the lead in Menon's Odiyan, which had Mohanlal opposite her. Despite a high-profile release, the film did not click with the auidence as expected.
Menon's response to the allegations
The director had taken to Facebook to reply to Manju's allegations as soon as they surfaced.
“Dear Manju, What are you up to? I trusted you though many of your friends had warned me about your bad behaviour,” Menon wrote on Facebook.
Menon also clarified that he will cooperate fully in the case.
After Odiyan's release, he had blamed Manju Warrier for not supporting him. He had also pointed fingers at M Padmakumar, director of Joseph, who was brought in to help in Odiyan's making.
(Editor's note: This story has been edited to clarify Odiyan's success at the box-office)