Kochi, Jan 7: Malayalam actress Honey Rose on Tuesday lodged a police complaint against prominent businessman Boby Chemmanur, accusing him of making "repeated sexually coloured" remarks against her.
Rose posted the allegation on one of her social media handles.
Chemmanur rejected Rose's allegations, claiming there was nothing objectionable in what he had said.
Ernakulam Central police said further procedures are underway in Rose's complaint, and they will soon register a case against the businessman under BNS Section 75 (sexual harassment).
"I have filed a complaint with the Ernakulam Central Police Station against your (Chemmanur) continuous derogatory remarks about me. I will take the same action against your supporters who share the same mentality. You can continue to rely on your wealth, but I have faith in the Indian legal system," she said in her Facebook post.
She also warned others with a "similar mindset" to his of strict legal action.
In the Facebook post, Rose further told the businessman to continue believing in his money power.
Rejecting the actress's charges, Chemmanur said there were no such issues between them as raised by her.
He claimed that he didn't use any derogatory terms, as alleged by her, and he always interacted with her in a friendly manner.
"She attended two of my inauguration events. We danced... I used to tell jokes. She seemed to have no issue with those things. And now she lodged a complaint against me after months," the businessman said.
He said he did not think that she had any personal grudge against him.
The jeweller further claimed that he behaves decently with women and said he discussed the matter with his lawyers, who said there was nothing objectionable in what he had said.
Rose revealed the identity of the businessman two days after she posted on Facebook on Sunday, accusing an individual of stalking her and making sexually inappropriate remarks, including through media platforms, which she claimed outraged her modesty.
Several people posted offensive comments below her post, prompting Rose to approach the police.
The Kochi Central Police have already registered a case against 30 people and arrested one of them over her complaint about sexual harassment through social media.
The arrested man was identified as Shaji, a 60-year-old man hailing from nearby Panangad.
The accused were booked under various sections of the BNS, including Section 75 and Section 67 of the IT Act. BNS Section 75 deals with sexual harassment, and IT Act Section 67 refers to the punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.
"We have intensified our investigation. Many of those who posted such remarks have deleted them. Efforts are underway to retrieve such posts and identify the accused," a police officer said on Tuesday morning.
Rose is known for her roles in a handful of movies in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu.
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New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
