The Kerala police have on Thursday- May 5 arrested award-winning Malayalam film director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan based on a complaint from popular actress Manju Warrier. The director has been taken into custody and the arrest has come days after Sasidharan has alleged that Manju Warrier was missing and her life is under threat. 

Manju Warrier had on Wednesday filed a police complaint against Sasidharan in which she has accused the director of repeatedly insulting and threatening her on social media by saying that her life is in danger. According to reports, the police had arrested Sasidharan and taken him into custody from Thiruvananthapuram rural and he would be taken to Kochi, where the complaint was filed.

In her complaint, Warrier has said that Sasidharan has been frequently annoying her by sending messages and trying to insult her on social media. It must be noted that Sasidharan was the director of the movie 'Kayattam' in which Warrier played an important role. It has been reported that recently, the police had recorded Warrier's statement in connection with a case of the alleged conspiracy against police officials who investigated her sexual assault case that she had filed against her former husband Dileep. 

After Warrier had given her statement before the police, Sasidharan had commented on social media that her life is in danger. Earlier this week, the director, in his social media post, had claimed that the managers of the actress are the reason why she is in detention. He wrote, "Very serious: Manju Warrier's life is in danger. It has been four days since I posted on social media that the life of famous Malayalam actress Manju Warrier is in danger and she is in the custody of some people with vested interests. I posted the names of her managers Bineesh Chandran and Binu Nair and the reasons why I believe she is in detention." 

"But so far neither Manju Warrier nor anyone else concerned has responded. Manju Warrier's silence reinforces my suspicion. Yesterday I sent an email to @wcc_cinema wcc, an organisation working for gender equality in Malayalam cinema. They, too, remain silent on the matter. When I say this on social media today, many people try to see this very serious issue as a joke", he added.

He further said, "It is frightening that the mainstream media in Kerala is trying to pretend that it has not seen this issue. Since the issue I have raised is about the life and liberty of a nationally acclaimed film actress, I would like the national media to take this issue seriously." Earlier, Sasidharan had made a similar post and wrote, "This is very important. Please don’t take it as a joke. This is a matter of life and blackmailing. Please inquire if it is true or not. #saveherlife." 

His post had sparked shockwaves across and beyond the borders. However, there was no confirmed data that Warrier was missing as per Sashidharan's claims. Now, days after his post, he has been arrested based on the complaint from Manju Warrier. It is pertinent to note that Sasidharan has won the Kerala state government's award for the best feature film for the movie 'Ozhivudivasathe Kali' in 2015.