Kochi: The Thalayolaparambu Police has issued notices to actor Nivin Pauly and director Abrid Shine in a cheating case involving ₹2 crore linked to the film Action Hero Biju 2. They have been asked to appear at the police station and submit their bank statements within a week.

The case was filed by co-producer P S Shamnas, who accused the two of cheating and breaking trust. Shamnas says that after the failure of their earlier film Mahaveeryar, Nivin promised to pay him ₹95 lakh and offer him a co-producer role in Action Hero Biju 2. Based on this, Shamnas invested ₹1.9 crore in April 2024.

Although the film was originally under Abrid Shine’s production, it was later transferred to Shamnas’s company. But disagreements came up over the film’s budget and decisions, and Shamnas says he was left out of key deals.

He also claims that the film’s rights were secretly sold to a Dubai-based company without his knowledge. The deal was reportedly made using an old agreement, and the Dubai firm was told that Nivin's company, Pauly Juniors, still owned the rights. The company even paid ₹2 crore in advance out of a ₹5 crore deal.

Non-bailable offences and court order execution

In line with a court directive, the Thalayolaparambu Police registered the complaint under various sections of law in connection with criminal breach of trust, cheating and common intention in criminal activities, which are non-bailable offences. The police state that both Nivin Pauly and Abrid Shine will be summoned to their station within a week, and will have to share banking documents as part of the investigation.