A special investigative team led by DySP KS Sudarshan on Monday summoned five people, including an actor to Chalakudy police station to take their statements, in connection with actor Kalabhavan Mani’s death.

Police reportedly found arrack from the actor’s outhouse, where he used to spend time with his friends. The outhouse has been sealed.

Earlier, there were reports of traces of methyl alcohol being found in Mani’s body. Methyl alcohol is a poisonous substance which can cause death if ingested. The autopsy was performed by a special team of doctors at the government medical college hospital in Thrissur on Monday morning, hospital sources said, but the report is still awaited.  

The 45-year-old actor passed away in a Kochi hospital on Sunday. The versatile actor had been unwell for a few days and was admitted to a hospital in Kochi. 

Though he had been admitted to the hospital, it was only on Sunday afternoon that news emerged that he was in a serious condition and on a ventilator. He was undergoing treatment for a liver-related illness, according to the hospital. At 7.15 pm the hospital confirmed the actor's death.

Kalabhavan Mani, born January 1, 1971, was an actor and singer, and started out in the Malayalam film industry. Mani, who was previously an auto driver, was a true outsider who broke all conventions to chart a successful career for himself. While he brought much versatility to his many roles, and could as easily inhabit the outrageously funny role as the seriously underplayed, as befits a mimicry artist and folk singer, his voice was the core of his talent.

He won the National Film Award in 2000 and Kerala state film award in 1999. He started out as a mimicry artist at the famous art centre Kalabhavan, and gained popularity with the same in films too. Mani, who began his acting career in the Siby Malayil directed Malayalam film "Aksharam" and proved his ability as serious actor in "Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum", where he played a blind street singer.