Malayalam director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan granted bail by Kerala Police in online harassment case of an actress

On Monday, the Mumbai Sahar police picked him up in Mumbai and turned him over to a two-person Kochi police team.

Malayalam filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, who was recently taken into custody by the police in Kochi, has now been granted bail.

According to ANI report, Sanal Kumar was arrested by the Elamakkara police in Kochi in relation to a case involving the alleged online harassment and stalking of a well-known actress.

On Monday, the Mumbai Sahar police picked him up in Mumbai and turned him over to a two-person Kochi police team. Based on a lookout circular issued against him back in January 2025, when the case was first registered, he was detained at the Mumbai airport on Sunday, shortly after his arrival from the United States.

Sanal Kumar expressed worries about the safety of the actress who lodged the complaint in a number of social media posts over the last few months, including while he was overseas.

In one of his posts, he wrote, “I have been detained as part of a lookout notice issued by the Kochi City Police. I believe the police and the communist party in Kerala will treat me as per the law. I am not aware of the case against me.”

The director has repeatedly asserted that the actress is in danger from the film industry's "mafia," which he claims has been pursuing him as well.

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Sanal Kumar has previously been the target of similar accusations. He was arrested by the Kochi police in May 2022 on suspicion of stalking the same actress on the internet. Later, the Aluva Judicial First Class Magistrate granted him bail, which allowed him to be released.

The ongoing conflict between Sanal Kumar and the actress is once again in the public eye due to this most recent arrest. The actress claims that the filmmaker acted out of concern for her safety, while the police are investigating the incident as harassment.

(With ANI Inputs)