Two film directors held during pre-dawn raid at Kochi apartment, on the charge of possessing suspected hybrid ganja

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Personnel of the Excise Department arrested two film directors during a pre-dawn raid on Sunday (April 27, 2025), on the charge of possessing suspected hybrid ganja, from the apartment of a director cum cinematographer in Kochi.

While Khalid Rahman directed movies like Alappuzha Gymkhana, Thallumala and Unda, Ashraf Hamsa directed movies like Thamaasha and Bheemante Vazhi. The duo and one Shahid Mohammed were held from the apartment of Samir Thahir with 1.5 gm of suspected hybrid ganja.

They reportedly claimed that they converged at the apartment to discuss about a movie. “The raid was done on the basis of a tip off. The duo were released on bail by 7 a.m., since the quantity of the drug was minimum. They escaped by a whisker a similar raid we had conducted in March at the apartment. A probe is on to identify the source of the hybrid ganja,” said a senior Excise officer.

Their arrest comes a few days after the controversy over an incident involving actor Shine Tom Chacko who reportedly fled from a hotel in Kaloor during a raid by the police. Subsequently, the Excise team probing a hybrid ganja seizure case served notices to him and also to actor Sreenath Bhasi, directing them to appear before them on April 28, 2025.