By Ria Jain
Following a lookout notice that was issued by the Kerala Police, renowned filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan was detained at the airport by Mumbai Police on Sunday, 7th September 2025. This act of detention has been in connection with the report filed against the filmmaker by the Elamakkara police on the basis of a harassment complaint made by a well known Malayalam actress, in January 2025. Further, the City Police Commissioner of Cochin confirmed that Sasidharan would now be taken to the city for questioning in custody.
The case dates back to 2022, when Sasidharan was arrested for stalking the actress on social media. Although, he was granted bail soon after by the Aluva Judicial First Class Magistrate. In January 2025, the same actress filed a complaint of harassment against Sanal, but he was in the United States at that time thus the Elamakkara Police issued a lookout circular in order to detain him once he was back in the country.
Sanal, through multiple Facebook posts, stated, “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.” He questioned the procedure at the same time, “The Elakkama Police booked flight tickets and came to Mumbai today just to arrest me- it needs to be examined whether they followed proper procedure in doing so.”
Defending himself, Sanal also mentioned in his posts that his phone was seized and he was given no food or water. He further questioned the basis of his charges by saying, “I don’t know on what basis a stalking case has been filed against me. As per the legal section, if someone follows a woman due to concern for her safety, it cannot be considered stalking.”