Actor Dileep, who is accused in the 2017 female actor abduction and assault case, has been issued a fresh notice to appear for interrogation before the crime branch on Monday.
The actor was first asked to appear at Aluva Police Club on Thursday. However, he requested a postponement citing prior engagements on that day. Following this, the interrogation has been rescheduled for Monday.
The investigation follows the allegation that the accused had illegally accessed the memory card containing visuals of the sexual assault, which was in court custody. While this allegation was first raised by the survivor, the prosecution later filed a report before the Additional Special Sessions Court confirming the illegal access of the memory card.
In the upcoming interrogation session, Dileep will likely be quizzed about this. Further, Whatsapp chats retrieved from the actor’s phone reportedly show that he had tried to influence witnesses in the assault case and hence he will be questioned about that as well.
In February 2017, a female actor who predominantly works in Malayalam and Kannada cinema was abducted and sexually assaulted by a gang of men in a moving car en route to Kochi from Thrissur.
After almost five years, the case gained momentum again at the end of 2021 when some serious allegations were levelled against actor Dileep – one of the accused and the supposed mastermind behind the attack – by filmmaker Balachandra Kumar. The latter alleged that Dileep had watched the video of the sexual assault at his house; that the actor knew the first accused in the case, Pulsar Suni; and that Dileep had influenced some of the significant witnesses in the case who later turned hostile during the trial.
Following this, the survivor sought further investigation in the case, and the court ordered a fresh probe.
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Dileep had earlier filed a petition at the Kerala High Court seeking to suspend this continued investigation. In March, dismissing Dileep’s plea, the HC said that the investigating agency can continue with its probe and directed that the investigation be concluded by April 15.
Meanwhile, the actor is also under investigation for allegedly conspiring to kill the police officers who probed him in the 2017 actor assault case. In late January, he was questioned by the crime branch for three consecutive days in connection to this new charge.
For a full timeline of the female actor abduction and assault case, see here.