Actor Lakshmi Menon, booked for techie’s ‘abduction and assault’ after Kochi bar fight, gets protection from arrest

According to police, the incident took place on August 24 at a bar, where the actor and her friends had an altercation with an IT professional named Aliyarshah Salim, a native of Aluva.

Written by Shaju Philip

Thiruvananthapuram | August 29, 2025 06:57 AM IST

2 min read

Kochi: Actor booked for abduction, assault gets protection from arrest

Lakshmi Menon is a recipient of the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress. (Credit: Instagram/@lakshmimenon967)

The Kerala High Court has granted interim protection from arrest to actor Lakshmi R Menon in connection with the alleged abduction and assault of an IT professional at midnight following an altercation at a bar in Kochi.

According to police, the incident took place on August 24 at a bar, where the actor and her friends had an altercation with an IT professional named Aliyarshah Salim, a native of Aluva. At around midnight, when Aliyarshah and his friends were travelling in their car after the incident at the bar, the actor and others allegedly chased them and waylaid their vehicle on a railway overbridge in Kochi.

It was alleged that after emerging from the car, the actor and her friends showered abuse on the IT professional. A video purportedly of the actor questioning the IT professional at a busy road had been shared on social media. When he came out of his car, the actor’s friends allegedly pulled him into their vehicle and abducted him. He was allegedly assaulted by the gang in the moving car and was later dropped near Aluva, around 17 km away.

Police had registered a case against the actor and three others, named Midhun, Aneesh and Sona, on charges of kidnapping, wrongful restraint, causing hurt and criminal intimidation. After the incident, Lakshmi went into hiding, while the police arrested the three others.

The High Court will consider the actor’s anticipatory bail plea on September 17, and has asked the police not to arrest her until then. Lakshmi Menon has acted in several films in South India, making her debut in 2011 with the Malayalam film, Raghuvinte Swantham Raziya.

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