Kochi, June 28 : Superstar Mohanlal, who leads the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes, came under fire from the Kerala Women's Commission on Thursday over the decision to reinstate accused actor Dileep into the artistes' body.

Dileep is an accused in the February 2017 actress kidnapping case which took place in Kochi, that landed him in a Kerala jail for 85 days.

Breathing fire on Mohanlal, Commission Chairperson M.C. Josephine reminded that AMMA's Sunday decision led by the superstar was flawed. "No doubt, Mohanlal's stocks have definitely fallen," said Josephine to the media. This was the first decision taken by the new committee under Mohanlal.

Her statement came a day after four leading actresses, including the kidnap victim, resigned from AMMA.

"After this decision, the name of the organisation AMMA (mother) does not suit it anymore. The ruling Left government and the CPI-M party should look into this," added Josephine.

Dileep's reinstatement has become the centre of a row following the newly formed Women in Cinema Collective's (WCC) Facebook post on Monday and the subsequent resignation by four leading actresses from AMMA on Wednesday.

Even, Kerala Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty on Thursday expressed surprise in the manner in which AMMA had revoked Dileep's suspension.

"It should not be forgotten that actors are icons and they should be perfect role models, but this decision that they took is baffling and not tenable.

"It's surprising that the two legislators -- Mukesh of the CPI-M and K.B. Ganesh Kumar, supporting the ruling Left government -- were also party to the decision," said Mercykutty .

PWD Minister G. Sudhakaran said that he never had a good opinion about Dileep. "He is an arrogant person. I fully support the four actress who quit AMMA, as none with any self respect can continue in the same organisation," said Sudhakaran.

Everyone is now awaiting superstar Mammootty's decision. It was Mammootty, who had announced the decision to remove Dileep from AMMA to the media, then.

However, Mammootty for the first time in several years, is not an office bearer anymore.

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Bengaluru, Dec 26: A Japanese national, Hiroshi Sasaki, who works in Bengaluru, lost Rs 35.5 lakh after being 'digitally arrested' by cyber fraudsters, police said, on Thursday.

 

The incident occurred between December 12 and 14, police added.

Sasaki, who lives in a flat near Dairy Circle, received a phone call on December 12. The caller was claiming to be from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The caller informed him that his phone number would be blocked due to its unauthorised use.

To avoid the disconnection Sasaki was asked to dial a number.

Upon dialling the number, he was immediately connected to a WhatsApp call from someone claiming to be from the Cyber Crime wing of Mumbai Police. The caller informed Sasaki that he was involved in a money laundering case.

The fraudsters "digitally arrested" him and siphoned off Rs 35.5 lakh by having him make payments through various means, including RTGS.

He was also told that the money would be returned after the investigation was completed.

After realising that he had been duped, the victim approached the South East Cyber Crimes, Economics and Narcotics (CEN) police station and lodged a complaint.

'Digital arrest' is a new cyber fraud, where the fraudster poses as law enforcement agency officials from agencies like CBI, and customs and threatens people of arrest by making video calls.

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