Actress Prayaga Martin has denied her involvement in a drug case in Kochi, involving gangster Om Prakash. The Ramaleela actress was named in the police remand report along with actor Sreenath Bhasi, after the police arrested the gangster for allegedly distributing drugs in rooms in a five-star hotel.
“I don't know Om Prakash personally,” Prayaga told Manorama Online. “To be honest, I only heard his name when a mediaperson approached me for an interview today. I had gone to the hotel in Maradu to visit some friends.”
“Since I had to board the Vande Bharat train in the morning to attend a function in Kozhikode, I asked my friends if I could sleep in the room for some time. There was a child there and I slept along with her in the room for two hours. It is unfortunate that I was there at the time.”
Prayaga told ETimes that she had to Google Om Prakash to figure out who he was but did mention that they were in the same hotel room together with around 20 others.
“I have no connection with this guy. Although we were in the same room with over 20 people, we had zero communication,” she said.
Knowing he was being watched by the police, Om Prakash booked three rooms under the alias ‘Bobby Chalapathi’.
During the raid, the police discovered a small stash of cocaine, liquid drugs and eight bottles of alcohol.
As the police widened their investigation, they discovered that 20 individuals, including actors Bhasi and Prayaga, were present in the room that night.
Besides them, according to the police remand report, Baiju, Anoop, Don Louis, Arun, Aloysius, Sneha, Tipson, Sridevi, Roopa and Pappi were also among those who visited the room and were linked with the incident.
Commissioner Putta Vimaladitya said the actors and those who visited the hotel room that day will most likely be questioned.
The police also arrested Om Prakash's accomplice Shihas from Kollam.
Elamakkara native Binu Joseph, too, has been arrested for reportedly taking the actors to the hotel room that night.
Om Prakash's criminal past
Om Prakash is said to be involved in multiple criminal cases, one being the murder of Paul Muthoot, who was stabbed to death on August 21, 2009, in Alappuzha. He was the son of M.G. George Muthoot, chairman of The Muthoot Group.
Kaari Satheesh was the prime accused in the case along with eight others, including Om Prakash, who accompanied Paul in his car before the stabbing. He was later released on unconditional bail.
Om Prakash and his gang were also involved in the attempted murder of four youths in 2023.