After the Kerala police recorded actress Manju Warrier’s statement in connection with a case of alleged conspiracy against police officials who probed the 2017 woman actor abduction and sexual assault case, in which her ex-husband and popular actor Dileep is an accused, director popular Malayalam filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan took to his social media handle and shared that Warrier’s life was in danger. According to him, she was facing danger from people close to her. Sanal also named that her managers Bineesh Chandran and Binu Nair would be responsible if anything adverse happens to Manju. In a Facebook post, he said: “I have sent an email and a text message to Manju Warrier about my apprehensions and mentioned that I am planning to reveal my doubts on social media before I put my first post. I have not received any reply from her…I have no personal interest in this matter. I totally understand that I stand on a dangerous edge on this issue. I can see a possibility of Manju Warrier coming out and say that she is just fine and I am making unnecessary hue and cry…’’

In a dramatic turn of events, on Thursday, the director was arrested by the Kerala Police following a complaint by actress Manju Warrier that he threatened and defamed her. The director was taken into custody from his house in Parassala, Thiruvananthapuram at around noon. The director resisted the police officials when they reached his place to arrest him. The director, however claimed on a Facebook live that he was being kidnapped by a group of people and that his life was in danger. “They are going to grab my mobile phone. I am being kidnapped by several people. They are attacking me. Some goons claiming to be police are taking me away. They are trying to kidnap me. Somebody please interfere”, he said on a Facebook live. He will be brought to Kochi, where the case has been registered. 

Sanala Kumar Sasidharan is a critically acclaimed director. His movie ‘Ozhivudivasathe Kali’ bagged the Kerala state government award for the best feature film of 2015. In 2017, his film Sexy Durga won the Hivos Tiger Award, Rotterdam film festival and in 2019 Chola also won several acclaims. It is to be noted that, Sanal had worked with Manju in the film Kayyattam, which she co-produced. In Manju Warrier's complaint, the actress said that Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, had been frequently pestering her by sending messages and attempting to insult her on social media.