Weeks after the Supreme Court granted protection from arrest to veteran Malayalam actor Siddiqui in a rape case, he appeared before the investigating agency on Friday when he was formally arrested and then released on bail.

The actor was formally arrested, medically examined and then released on bail after being produced in a court here. On November 19, the Supreme Court granted him relief from arrest.

Siddiqui had moved the apex court after the Kerala High Court on September 24 refused to grant him relief on the grounds that given the seriousness of the allegations, his custodial interrogation was unavoidable for a proper investigation of the crime.

The actor, who was booked for offenses under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), has claimed in his petition that the complainant subjected him to “harassment and false allegations”. Has been made victim of “long campaign”. From 2019 onwards. He had resigned from the post of General Secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) following rape allegations leveled against him by a female actor.

Several FIRs were filed against several high-profile personalities in the Malayalam film industry following allegations of sexual harassment against various directors and actors in the wake of revelations made in the Justice Hema Committee report.

The committee was formed by the Kerala government following the 2017 actress harassment case and revealed cases of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry. Following allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation against several actors and directors, the state government on 25 August announced the setting up of a seven-member Special Investigation Team to probe the allegations.