Dileep’s brother, Anoop, one of the accused in the conspiracy to murder case along with the actor, has been served with a notice to appear before the Kerala crime branch for interrogation on Monday, according to The New Indian Express.
The case, which was registered by the Kerala police on January 9 against Dileep and his associates, relates to their alleged plot to kill the officers who investigated the 2017 female actor abduction and assault case. Dileep is currently facing trial as the chief conspirator behind the abduction and assault of the female actor.
The new FIR was filed based on allegations raised by filmmaker Balachandra Kumar and audio clips released by him.
Following this, Dileep and the others sought and obtained anticipatory bail from the Kerala High Court in the new FIR. When grating them conditional pre-arrest bail, the court noted that there appeared to be no material to suggest that the accused had been engaged in a criminal conspiracy to target the investigating officers.
However, the court also directed the accused to appear before the crime branch for interrogation as and when required.
Anoop will thus have to appear before the crime branch on the date he has been summoned or face cancellation of his anticipatory bail. The crime branch pasted the notice on his house as he was unavailable.
As per the TNIE report, the investigating team recently received the forensic analysis report of Anoop’s mobile phone and it was after this that the notice was issued summoning him. It is also said that Dileep will be called for interrogation after Anoop. According to the report, the investigators have also decided to question Dileep’s brother-in-law, TN Suraj.
Earlier, the accused had turned in six mobile phones to the Kerala HC’s registry, which was later transferred to a sessions court in Aluva. The phones were then sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram for analysis. These were the phones allegedly used by the accused to plot the murder of the officers.
The fresh rounds of investigation in the case will likely be based on the forensic reports on the cell phones.
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Meanwhile, Dileep recently moved the Kerala High Court seeking to quash the FIR against him in the conspiracy to murder case. If the case could not be revoked, he requested for the investigation to at least be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
With regards to the female actor abduction and assault case, Dileep had earlier submitted a plea to the HC seeking to suspend all further investigation. When this plea came up for hearing on Tuesday, the survivor requested the court to hear her before passing an order. The court posted the matter for hearing on February 21.
For a full timeline of the female actor abduction and assault case, see here.