Did Shine flee hotel? Police to find out

Kochi: City police will serve a notice and record the statement of actor Shine Tom Chacko, as they suspect he was the man who fled from a hotel room when officers of the district anti-narcotic special action force (Dansaf) conducted an inspection on Wednesday night.

According to police, prima facie, they have not found any crime occurrence but they are trying to get clarity on why he fled the hotel. A senior officer with Dansaf said they were at the hotel near Lisie Junction looking for another drug peddler when they saw that Chacko was in one of the rooms.

"On suspicion, police decided to check the room. Although police rang the doorbell, the door was not opened. By the time it was opened, the window was found open, and someone had escaped. Later, an inquiry was held, and CCTV was checked. As per our investigation, we suspect it was Chacko who jumped through the window. He jumped onto the roofing sheet underneath and then into the pool," said an officer with the Dansaf.

The officer added that they found CCTV footage of him descending the stairs and leaving the hotel. He seems to have gone to another hotel in the city at night and then to Thrissur. "The drug peddler we came looking for was not at the hotel. We questioned one person who was in the room and another person. We have not recovered any contraband, nor detected any other crime. However, we will serve summons to Chacko and seek clarification on why he fled," an officer said.

Meanwhile, Chacko's mother, Maria Carmel, told the media that from what she understood, he must have fled since he got scared. "Those who came were not wearing police uniforms. He saw them when he got up from sleep. Seeing the man, all of a sudden, he got worried and ran away. Be it Dansaf or police, they must have done their inspections, and did they find anything?," she asked. She said he didn't know the person who came was there to conduct an inspection and when he asked if he was a police officer, he was told they were not cops.