Thrissur: There is a strong possibility that someone deliberately mixed pesticide and methanol in the drinks served to Kalabhavan Mani in his outhouse ‘Paadi’ at Chalakkudy before the actor’s mysterious death on March 6, according to the findings of both the excise and police on Saturday.
Excise officials here said that the arrack taken to ‘Paadi’ did not contain any poisonous substances, as per the information collected by them.
The police have taken into custody five of Mani’s close friends, Arun, Vipin, Murugan, ‘Patru’ Vinu and Joy, who made the country liquor. They have been kept at an undisclosed location.
“A person named Joy, a resident of Varantharappilly in Thrissur, had prepared country liquor by brewing fruits and distilling it. Mani’s friend Jomon, a resident of Chalakkudy, had taken two bottles of this country liquor to ‘Paadi.’ Joy had brewed liquor illegally for a feast in a church in his locality in the first week of February and it was meant to be distributed among close friends and relatives,” excise deputy commissioner N.S. Salim Kumar told DC.
He also said that methanol is not formed in country liquor while brewing, and in spurious arrack, it is added causing liquor tragedies.
Meanwhile, Jomon, who is presently in the UAE, told mediapersons over phone that he had indeed brought country liquor to ‘Paadi’ in February and shared it with Mani’s friends. But the actor did not take it.
Though the excise and police investigating teams conducted searches at ‘Paadi’ for the third time on Saturday, nothing suspicious was recovered. “I was there with the police during the search operations in ‘Paadi’ from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the chemicals found in small bottles were make-up materials,” Mani’s brother R.L.V. Ramakrishan told DC.
Investigation officer K.S. Sudarsan refused to comment on the progress of investigations.
