Thrissur: In a major development in the fake drug case against Sheela Sunny, a beauty parlour owner in Chalakudy, the official who seized a fake LSD stamps from the woman's bag has been suspended.

The Excise Commissioner's action is for aiding and abetting to file a false case.

The assistant chemical examiner Jyothi P Mallya of the Kakkanad Regional Laboratory submitted the report on May 12 certifying that the seized stamps did not contain LSD.

Although the exercise realised that it was a trumped-up charge, it neither informed the victim of the test result nor took steps to rectify the officials' mistake.

The alleged LSD stamps that were sent by the Irinjalakuda excise circle office through the Sessions Court, Thrissur, for the chemical test were received at the laboratory in Kakkanad on April 1, but the arrest was made on February 27.

Although such chemical tests usually take months, in this case, the result was made available within one and a half months. The laboratory sent the test report to the excise range officer and circle officer of Chalakudy on May 12. They had received the report within a day. Oddly, the exercise did not inform the victim of this fact. By this time, Sheela had completed 72 days in jail and was released on bail.

Sheela obtained the result of the chemical test through a request made by her advocate in court.