Sreenath Bhasi moves Kerala High Court for anticipatory bail in hybrid drugs case

Malayalam cine actor Sreenath Bhasi has approached the Kerala High Court seeking anticipatory bail following reports that a woman arrested with ₹2 crores worth of hybrid ganja had named him as one of her customers. [Sreenath Bhasi v. State of Kerala].The case is listed before Justice PV Kunhikrishnan today..The case stems from the arrest of one Tasleema Sulthana from Alappuzha district on April 1. She was found be in possession of large amounts of hybrid ganja. In her statement to the Excise Enforcement & Anti-Narcotic Special Squad that arrested her, she alleged that she has several customers within the Malayalam film industry.Upon going through her WhatsApp chats, the Excise team reportedly found messages to Sreenath Bhasi and another actor, Shine Tom Chacko..This prompted Bhasi to approach the High Court seeking anticipatory bail contending that he had never purchased any drugs from Sulthana. In his petition, Bhasi has asserted that the only contact he had with Sulthana was when he met her at a film shooting set in November last year. He has claimed that Sulthana introduced herself as Christina and obtained his number through a friend.However, just before she was arrested, Sulthana called Bhasi out of the blue and offered to sell him cannabis. She later sent him a message on WhatsApp asking "do [Bhasi] need".Bhasi replied to her saying "wait". However, he has claimed in his petition that he replied in this manner only because he thought that Sulthana was attempting to "tease" him. He did not send any other messages after that.Bhasi, in his plea, has also stated that he has no criminal antecedents and that his arrest would affect the ongoing shooting of a movie he is headlining.Assuring the Court of his complete co-operation with the investigation, Bhasi has sought anticipatory bail in the case. .Bhasi is being represented by advocates Ajeesh S Brite, Francis Assisi, Darsana and Sreelakshmi Ramachandran. UPDATE: When the matter came up before the Court in the afternoon, Bhasi's counsel informed the Court that Bhasi wishes to withdraw the bail application. The Court disposed of the case allowing him to do so..[Read Order]