Thiruvananthapuram: Superstar-turned Rajya Sabha MP Suresh Gopi was formally arrested by the Crime Branch on Monday in connection with the Puducherry car registration case. Suresh Gopi turned up before the Crime Branch team at the police headquarters on Monday afternoon. After recording his arrest, he was released on bail of two solvent sureties, including one of his brothers, and a bond worth Rs 1 lakh.
The High Court had earlier directed him to appear before the investigation team. The Crime Branch suspected the veracity of the claims made by Suresh Gopi.
While he submitted the copies of a rent agreement of 2014 of a house in Puducherry, one of his luxury cars was registered in Puducherry in 2010, sources pointed out.
Actor Amala also turned up before the Crime Branch team here on Monday morning as per the directives of the High Court and she was quizzed for nearly three hours.
Serious discrepancies were found in her statements regarding the registration of her S-class Benz car in Puducherry.
While Amala claimed that she had taken a building on rent in Puducherry for shooting purposes, the Crime Branch showed her evidence of another rent agreement in the name of a Kannur-native in the same address during the same period, it is learnt.
"Amala said that she had taken the said building on rent in January last year, but a formal rent agreement was executed only on August 1. The car was purchased on August 7 and registered on August 9. She even claimed that she last visited the premises in December. At this point of time, the Crime Branch team showed her the rent agreement for the same premises executed by the Kannur-native, who is also a luxury car owner. Amala failed to give any clarification to this," said sources.
The Crime Branch will soon give a report in the High Court regarding the case against Amala and further steps like recording her arrest would be taken as per the court's directive, said Crime Branch sources.
