Googled to find out who Omprakash was after seeing the news; I went to meet a friend: Prayaga Martin

Kochi: Actor Prayaga Martin was questioned and later released in connection with the drug case involving notorious criminal Omprakash in Kochi. After the interrogation, while responding to media questions, Prayaga said that she did not know Omprakash and only learned about him after searching on Google following the news reports. 

"The police questioning is a routine procedure. I went to the hotel to meet a friend," she said.

The police remand report had mentioned that actors Prayaga and Sreenath Bhasi were among those who visited Omprakash in his hotel room before his arrest in Kochi days earlier. This led the police to summon both for questioning.

"I went to meet a friend. I was unaware that a drug party was taking place. The police haven’t asked me to appear again. After the news broke, I Googled Om Prakash to find out who he was. It's normal to meet people and visit places as part of social life. We don't check the criminal background of people before going somewhere. I don’t recall seeing anyone like that there," said Prayaga.

The actress appeared for questioning at the South Police Station on Thursday, in connection with the drug party hosted by gangster Omprakash at a five-star hotel in Kochi. She appeared later in the day, although the police had asked both Prayaga and Sreenath Bhasi to come for questioning at 10 am. Bhasi left after his questioning, and Prayaga arrived soon after but refrained from speaking to the media. 

Actor Sabumon is providing legal assistance to Prayaga, and he had said that she would comment further after the questioning concluded.

Earlier, Prayaga had shared a sarcastic Instagram post related to the case, but has not commented on it after that. 

The investigation team has questioned four more individuals on Wednesday. Among those questioned were Thammanam Faisal, who was in contact with Omprakash, Aloshi Peter from Brahmapuram, his wife Sneha and Paul Jose from Angamaly, who were present at the hotel during the party. The police suspect they are connected to Elamakkara native Binu Joseph, who brought the visitors to the hotel. 

Details of around 14 more people who attended the drug party have been collected by the investigation team which will issue notices to them soon. So far, three arrests have been made in the case.