Actor Dileep, an accused in the 2017 female actor abduction and assault case, has raised counter allegations of extortion against filmmaker Balachandra Kumar, whose evidence led to a fresh probe being launched in the case.
The actor, who was recently also booked for allegedly conspiring to kill the investigators in the 2017 case, based on audio clips released by Kumar, claimed in a reply filed before the Kerala High Court that the latter extorted Rs 10 lakh from him on various occasions. According to the actor, Kumar had said that it was his interventions that helped the former get bail in the actor assault case and had demanded money for the same.
As per Dileep’s statement, Kumar claimed he had a close relationship with the bishop of Neyyattinkara through his wife, who is a Latin Catholic Christian. The filmmaker allegedly contacted Dileep’s brother Anoop and brother-in-law Suraj and said that through the bishop, he could inform various dignitaries, like the chief minister, various ministers and senior police officers, about the “true facts” of the case and thus bring about Dileep’s exoneration.
The actor’s statement noted that Kumar was one of the 18 visitors he had when he was in jail in 2017. It further added that a month after Dileep was released on bail, the filmmaker contacted him demanding money for facilitating his release. Kumar allegedly told Dileep that he needed the money to pay off the bishop and other persons who had aided in the process. The actor added that when he refused to pay him, Kumar threatened to call ADGP Sandhya and make allegations against him.
Following Dileep’s statement to the court, the diocese of Neyyattinkara issued a clarification on Sunday stating that their bishop Vincent Samuel had no involvement in the 2017 actor assault case. The statement from the diocese added that the bishop had no connection with the accused or the person who accused the actor.
In his statement to the court, Dileep further added that Kumar had a grudge against him as he had refused to work on a film that the director and he had discussed. His statement also noted that the digital evidence against him is unreliable. Pointing out that the police have not found the tablet which was said to be used to record the conversation between Dileep and his associates, the actor said this indicated that the evidence was fabricated.
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Meanwhile, the police have seized Dileep’s chat records with Kumar. Also, as per the high court’s order on Saturday, the actor and the others accused of conspiring to kill the policemen who probed the 2017 case, appeared before the crime branch for interrogation for the second day in a row on Monday. Their questioning began on Sunday and will continue till Tuesday. The court has ordered the prosecution to submit a report on the interrogation in a sealed cover on Thursday.
The five accused are being questioned by five separate teams under the supervision of Superintendent of Police MP Mohanachandran. On Sunday, the accused were interrogated for 11 hours.
For a full timeline of the female actor abduction and assault case, see here.