The Kochi Police on Monday filed a chargesheet against five accused in the sensational Kochi cocaine seizure case in a court in Ernakulam even as the Kerala High Court granted bail to all five of them — a new generation Malayalam film actor and four young women.
In the 160-page chargesheet filed by Circle Inspector (Central) Francis Shelby in the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court on Monday, the police charged the accused with conspiracy and under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs Act for possessing, using and selling cocaine which could lead to imprisonment for ten years of each of the accused.
Those against whom the chargesheet was filed on Monday were new generation film actor and third accused Shine Tom Chacko (31) and four young women - designer Reshma Rangaswamy (26), assistant film director Blessy Sylvester (22), travel firm owner Sneha Babu (26) and model Tinsy Babu (26), first, second, fourth and fifth accused respectively.
The chargesheet said that the accused had procured cocaine with the intention of selling it at the nightly smokers’ parties. They were arrested in an early morning raid from a luxury apartment in the heart of Kochi city on January 31. According to the police, they had seized seven grams of cocaine from first accused Reshma and all of them had used the drug.
The police had arrested a total of eight persons in the case. They had arrested Nigerian Okowe Chigozie Collins (29), who had allegedly given the cocaine to Reshma, from Goa on March 4 and Prithwiraj, who had introduced her to Collins, and his accomplice Jasbir Singh from Chennai on March 22. The chargesheet against these three persons will be submitted later.
The police, who had filed the chargesheet in the morning itself after being alerted by legal experts about the possibility of the accused getting bail, argued in the High Court against the bail application of all the five saying that they had not only used cocaine but had also been making money by selling the drug. They also argued that the release of the accused could adversely affect the investigations into the drug mafia network.
