Actor Dileep has moved the Kerala High Court seeking to quash the FIR filed against him for allegedly conspiring to kill the police officials who investigated his role in the female actor abduction and assault case.
If the case cannot be revoked, he has requested for the investigation to at least be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
On January 9, the Kerala crime branch had filed an FIR against Dileep and his associates in the conspiracy to murder case. The FIR was filed based on allegations raised by filmmaker Balachandra Kumar.
Following this, Dileep, who is currently facing trial as the chief conspirator behind the 2017 abduction and assault of the female actor, moved to the Kerala High court seeking anticipatory bail in the new FIR. And on February 7, the court granted him conditional pre-arrest bail, noting that there appeared to be no material to suggest that the accused actor had been engaged in criminal conspiracy to target the investigating officers.
Dileep has now again moved the HC, seeking to cancel the FIR altogether in the new case against him. His plea, filed through advocate Philip T Varghese, alleges that the FIR is “a vindictive, ill-motivated, pre-determined and malafide act executed with oblique motives.”
It further claims that this case has been registered simply to fabricate evidence in the actor assault case. The petition adds that the FIR was registered in violation of provisions of Section 154 of CrPC (information in cognizable cases) and contends that the investigation officer used false and unsigned statements that Kumar provided owing to a personal vendetta.
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In the event of the court not quashing the FIR, Dileep has made an appeal for the investigation to be transferred to CBI from the Kerala State Police. He claims that as the petitioners in the case are all senior officials in the department, the Kerala Police will not carry out a “fair, unbiased, non-partisan and honest investigation.”
Meanwhile, Dileep’s advocate Varghese told Silverscreen India that they had earlier filed a separate petition, seeking to suspend further investigation in the actor abduction case. He noted that the trial in the 2017 case was halted due to continued investigation, and hence the plea was filed.
For a full timeline of the female actor abduction and assault case, see here.