The Kerala Film Producers’ Association has sought an urgent and comprehensive police investigation into the arson attack on filmmaker Vijeesh Mani’s vehicle at Muthuvattoor in Thrissur.

The jeep, parked in the courtyard of Mani’s residence, was set on fire by unidentified persons in the early hours of July 30. In a letter to Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, the association said the blaze caused extensive damage to the vehicle and destroyed hard drives containing crucial material related to a film Mani was producing, along with other vital digital data.

The association said the loss of important footage and production-related documents had caused significant financial and emotional distress to the producer. It urged the minister to ensure a thorough investigation, identify those responsible at the earliest and take stringent legal action against them.

Meanwhile, Mani said artists and members of the Attappady community would stage a protest at his residence on Sunday, August 9, demanding justice. The protest coincides with World Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

“Those who attempted to eliminate us have still not been apprehended. The hard disks containing the completed footage of the docufiction ‘Ramarkooth – Reviving the Tribal Epic of Rama’, which were inside the vehicle, were also destroyed in the fire,” Mani said in a statement.

Mani said he had shared a close bond with Attappady for years through his work in the Irula, Muduga and Kurumba languages. His films include ‘Netaji’, ‘M M M (Sound of Pain)’ and ‘Adivasi (The Black Death)’, while his docufictions include ‘Kokaal – The Last Breath’, ‘Attappady – The Valley of Divine Healing’ and ‘Ramarkooth – Reviving the Tribal Epic of Rama’.

He said the protest was being organised as a demand for justice and to highlight the need to protect art, culture and individual safety.