Kochi: Malayalam actor Aju Varghese was on Tuesday arrested for revealing the identity of the actress who was waylaid and molested in Kochi on February 17. He was released on bail later.
"Aju Varghese's arrest has been recorded today (Tuesday). He has been granted station bail later," Kalamassery circle inspector S. Jayakrishnan said.
Police, acting on a complaint filed by Girish Babu of Kalamassery, had on July 13 taken the statement of Varghese, who was booked for disclosing the name of the actress on social media through his mobile phone.
The police had also seized his mobile phone.
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Following the police action, he had approached Kerala High Court for quashing the case registered against him. Along with his petition, Varghese had also filed a signed affidavit of the actress in the court which stated that she had no objection to his plea.
However, the High Court, while rejecting his plea, stated that simply producing an affidavit from the victim about his/ her having no issue in withdrawing the charge would hold no ground for reliving the accused of the charges.
The police, later, registered a case against him under IPC section 228 A (disclosure of identity of the victim of certain offenses).
The actor had earlier expressed regret over revealing the identity of the actress.
On February 17, the popular actress, who has worked in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films, was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car for two hours.
Six persons, including main accused Pulsar Suni, have been arrested in connection with the incident, while Malayalam actor Dileep has been nabbed in connection with the case of plotting the abduction and alleged sexual assault.