Court in Kerala finds lapses in probe in drugs case involving actor Shine Tom Chacko

Kochi: A court here has found serious lapses in the police inquiry into a 2015 drug case involving actor Shine Tom Chacko and six others.

Ernakulam First Additional District and Sessions Judge Sulekha M acquitted the actor and four women-- Reshma Rangaswamy, Assistant Director Blessy Sylvester, Tincy Babu, and Sneha Babu, in the case in February this year.

Besides them, Nigerian national Okowe Chigozie Collins and Tamil Nadu native Prithvi Raj were also acquitted by the court.

Chacko was the third accused in the case.

The deposition of the witnesses shows a lot of omissions and contradictions, the court order said.

As per the statements by the witnesses, the seized contraband has been submitted to the investigating officer, the then Kadavanthra police Inspector.

However, the officer was not present at the spot during the seizure, the order said.

The Sub Inspector of Kadavanthra Police station, at the time of his examination, clarified that they were typographical mistakes. But no correction report has been filed before the court, the order added.

Besides, the Chemical Analysis Certificate shows that in the blood samples collected from the first to fifth accused, cocaine was not detected.

The prosecution could not establish that these accused consumed cocaine.

"On perusing the documents it can be seen that the samples were not taken in the presence of the Magistrate or the Magistrate has not certified the correctness of the inventory," the order said.

The case pertains to the alleged seizure of cocaine and the arrest of five, including Chacko, on January 31, 2015, from a posh flat in Kadavanthra here.