KOCHI: The Ernakulam North police on Thursday booked actor Vinayakan for his social media outburst against the three days of mourning observed for former chief minister Oommen Chandy who passed away on Tuesday.
As per the case, registered on the directive of Kochi city police commissioner K Sethuraman, Vinayakan has been booked for disrespecting a dead body, causing provocation for rioting and causing public nuisance and violation public order by various means of telecommunication.
Vinayakan stirred up the hornet’s nest after he launched a tirade against the three days of mourning during a Facebook Live session late on Wednesday. “Who is this Oommen Chandy,” Vinayakan asked on FB Live, and told the media to stop covering his death, saying his and several others’ fathers too had passed away. “Though others think he was a good person, I do not share their opinion. His nature can be understood from the matter of Karunakaran,” he said.
Vinayakan deleted the video from FB after people started commenting negatively on the post. However, recordings of the FB Live video started circulating on social media, including FB and YouTube. By Thursday afternoon, over 10 complaints against Vinayakan were submitted to Sethuraman, Ernakulam Central ACP C Jayakumar, as well as at Ernakulam North and Kochi Cyber police stations. Most complaints were from politicians, including local Congress leaders.
“I gave the directive to register a case and conduct a probe against Vinayakan. We have received several complaints against him by now,” Sethuraman said. Police are considering deploying personnel at Vinayakan’s flat in Kaloor anticipating protests against the actor. On Thursday, three Congress sympathisers had reached the flat and knocked on the door. The actor alerted the police who reached the spot and removed the trio.