More questions have been raised after the hospital report stated that Kalabhavan Mani may have died from poisoning, although his manager insists he only drank beer
The sudden death of popular Malayalam film actor Kalabhavan Mani could result in more shockwaves — not only have the Kerala police registered a case of unnatural death on suspicion of poisoning, it’s possible there was foul play involved.
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The police intimation report from the hospital pointed out the possibility of poisoning
Here are the facts: after the 45-year-old passed away on Sunday evening at Amrita Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Kochi, the hospital issued a police intimation report that said the lab reports had shown ‘suspicion of poisoning’. ACP (Ernakulam) Vijayan K V revealed that ‘methanol had been detected in the urine and blood samples’.
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Close aides of the actor said he and his friends had consumed alcohol at his outhouse at Chalakudy in Thrissur on Friday evening. The next morning, he began to vomit blood and he was eventually admitted on Saturday evening. However, it is unclear how the toxic methanol entered his system, as the actor’s manger Shobi, informed the police that he would only consume beer. As experts confirmed to mid-day, methanol poisoning from beer is unheard of.
Questions
There are several other questions that need answering, such as why Mani was taken to the hospital so late and why the doctors delayed informing the police about the matter. The police intimation note — signed by clinical assistant professor Dr Ramakrishnan UK — states that Mani began to suffer the symptoms between 5 and 6 am on Saturday morning, but he was only brought to the hospital at 5 pm, nearly 12 hours later. He was conscious at the time but was bleeding internally and his blood pressure was falling. In the next few hours, he was put on ventilator support.
Poisoning incidents are medico-legal cases and have to be reported to the police, but the force was only informed about it a day after Mani had been admitted. “The local police had no clue about the actor’s admission to the hospital prior to receiving the hospital note. Subsequently, a police team visited the hospital to make further enquiries on Sunday. However, by then his condition had deteriorated. He was declared dead by 8 pm and his statement could not be recorded,” said ACP Vijayan.
Kochi city DCP (Law and Order) Arul RB Krishna said, “As the doctors could not certify the cause of death, and as the death was suspicious, the case was transferred to the Chalakudy police under the Thrissur (Rural) Police, who registered a case under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code.”
On Monday morning, a team from the department of forensic medicine and toxicology of Thrissur Medical College conducted the autopsy but could not ascertain the cause of death. The viscera have now been sent to Kerala FSL at Kakkanad.
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“The forensic surgeons preserved the viscera for chemical analysis to rule out poisoning, though his liver was bad, indicating that he indeed had a liver ailment. We have formed special teams to carry out an in-depth probe,” said K Karthick, DCP, Thrissur (Rural) police, who also confirmed they had inspected the actor’s outhouse and recovered liquor bottles from there.
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