Actor Dileep moved the Kerala High Court on Monday for anticipatory bail in the new FIR registered against him by the crime branch for allegedly conspiring to kill the investigation officers in the female actor abduction and sexual assault case.
Dileep’s brother Anoop and brother-in-law Suraj, who are also named in the same FIR, sought pre-arrest bail as well. According to the petition filed by the trio, the registration of the FIR was “nothing but a vindictive and retaliatory act of investigation officer Baiju Paulose.” Dileep had earlier initiated criminal contempt of court proceedings against Deputy Superintendent Paulose, who was leading the inquiry in the actor assault case and was one of the officers targetted by the alleged conspiracy.
The new FIR against Dileep and five others was filed based on audio clips released by filmmaker Balachandra Kumar, who claims to be a former friend of Dileep. In these clips, which were shared on the Reporters Live news channel, the accused can allegedly be heard planning to kill the investigation officers in the actor assault case.
However, in their bail plea, the accused claim that the allegations are “a product of fabrication and doctoring.” They argue that the case was registered only to take them into custody and to harass and humiliate them before the public.
Investigation sources told The Hindu that the crime branch is preparing to effectively oppose the bail plea of the actor and his associates. “Whenever his plea comes up before the court, we will be ready with the counter,” they said.
Meanwhile, an audio clip of a conversation supposedly between Pulsar Suni, the prime accused, and his former prison mate, Jinson, has emerged which implicates Dileep and lends credence to Balanchandra Kumar’s allegations. It is notable that Jinson earlier shared a jail cell with Suni and the conversations the duo had at that time helped the crime branch expose Dileep’s alleged role in the case.
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The new clip is reportedly from a phone call made from Kakkanad prison. In it, Suni asks Jinson about the latest information on the case and the latter tells him about the revelations by Balanchandra Kumar and asks whether Suni knew him. Suni then admits to having seen him two or three times both at Dileep’s house and a hotel.
This audio clip comes in the wake of recent revelations made by Balachandra Kumar that led to a fresh probe into the actor assault case and will likely be a significant aspect for the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into.
The SIT is expected to submit a report before the Ernakulam Additional Special Sessions Judge Honey M Varghese by January 20, when the case comes up for hearing next.
For a full timeline of the female actor abduction and assault case, see here.