The Kerala Crime Branch, on Sunday, filed a new case against actor Dileep for allegedly conspiring to kill the police officers who investigated his involvement in the female actor abduction and sexual assault case.
The FIR also names Dileep’s associates – brother Anoop, brother-in-law Suraj, Appu, Baiju Chengamanadu, and another unidentified person – who were involved in this alleged conspiracy. The six of them have been booked under IPC sections 116 (abetment of offence punishable with imprisonment), 118 (concealing design to commit offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (criminal act done by several people).
Filmmaker Balachandra Kumar recently released audio clips in which the accused can allegedly be heard planning to kill the investigation officers. The audio clips were aired on the Reporters Live news channel, following which the case was registered.
In one audio clip, a voice, said to be that of Dileep, can be heard saying that the five police officials who were investigating the case would be “dealt with.” In another clip, a person talks about running a truck over Deputy Superintendent Baiju Paulose, who was leading the inquiry in the actor abduction case. The accused reportedly charted out the murder plan on November 15, 2017, at Dileep’s residence in Kottarakadavu, Aluva.
A new investigation team has been formed by the Kerala government to probe the case in view of these developments. Additional Director General of Police Sreejith will head this team, which will also include Inspector General KP Philp of the Crime Branch and the Station House Officer of Nedumbassery. Baiju Paulose and officers Sudarshan and Sojan, who were among the targets allegedly named by Dileep and his associates, will continue as part of the investigation team.
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Dileep is the eighth accused in the case in which a female Malayalam actor was abducted and sexually assaulted in a moving car in Kochi in February 2017.
Recently, filmmaker Balachandra Kumar, who claims to be a former friend of Dileep, said that the actor had watched the video of the sexual assault at his house; knew Pulsar Suni, the other accused; and also influenced some of the significant witnesses in the case, who turned hostile during the trial. These revelations led to the launch of a new probe by the Kerala police.