The Kerala government on Tuesday suspended two senior prison officials over allegations of providing VIP treatment to businessman Boby Chemmanur, who was briefly arrested earlier this month on charges of harassing a Malayalam actress.

According to reports, P Ajayakumar, Deputy Inspector General of the Central Region Jail, and Raju Abraham, Superintendent of the Ernakulam District Jail have been suspended with immediate effect pending an enquiry into the matter.

The disciplinary action followed an inquiry report which alleged that unauthorised visitors, reportedly Chemmanur’s friends, were permitted to meet him at the Ernakulam District Jail on the day he was arrested. The report highlighted procedural violations, prompting the Kerala Home Department to order stringent action against the accused officers.

Boby Chemmanur, a prominent businessman and jewellery brand owner in Kerala, was arrested on January 9 and remanded to judicial custody after the actress, Honey Rose, accused him of stalking her and making sexually inappropriate remarks through various media platforms, which she claimed outraged her modesty.

Chemmanur was arrested from a resort he owns in Wayanad.

The businessman was granted bail by Kerala High Court on January 14.

The court noted that the language used by Chemmanur had “double meanings” and remarked, “Any Malayali who reads the First Information Statement (FIS) can easily understand that the words used by the petitioner have double meanings.” Despite this, the court granted him bail, citing the principle that “bail is the rule and jail is the exception”.

However, Chemmanur chose to delay his release by a day, expressing solidarity with some inmates who were facing difficulties in securing bail.

The High Court sharply criticised Chemmanur for delaying his release, accusing him of staging a “drama to garner media attention”.

Chemmanur is facing charges under Section 75(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for making “sexually coloured remarks” and under Section 67 of the IT Act for transmitting obscene material electronically.