Actor Dileep, who is currently under trial as the chief conspirator behind the 2017 female actor abduction and sexual assault, was interrogated by the crime branch for seven hours at the police club in Aluva on Monday.
According to Manorama News, during his questioning, the actor refuted all the allegations raised by filmmaker Balachandra Kumar, including that Dileep had watched the visuals of the assault.
Dileep stated that Kumar came up with such baseless allegations after he did not fall into the filmmaker’s blackmail trap. The actor had earlier raised counter allegations of extortion against Kumar, stating that the latter had threatened to make allegations to the police when he was not paid.
During Monday’s interrogation, Dileep also claimed that many other people have attempted to exploit this situation created by Kumar. He added that whenever the case seemed to be progressing in his favour, some people would come up with allegations similar to those raised by Kumar.
Dileep further claimed that there was a larger conspiracy in fixing him in the conspiracy to kill the investigating officers case.
The interrogation was headed by Crime Branch ADGP S Sreejith, SP MJ Sojan, and the Inquiry Officer in the actor assault case Baiju M Paulose. The primary aim was to find out if Dileep had possessed and watched the assault visuals and his role in allegedly influencing 20 witnesses who turned hostile during the trial.
After the completion of Monday’s interrogation, ADGP Sreejith told the media that the questioning will continue on Tuesday. When asked if Dileep was cooperative, the officer said that questions were asked and the actor responded.
Manorama News reports that the crime branch has asked Dileep to furnish evidence to validate his statements during the interrogation on Tuesday.
In February 2017, a female actor who predominantly works in Malayalam and Kannada cinema was abducted and sexually assaulted by a gang of men in a moving car en route to Kochi from Thrissur.
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At the end of 2021, the case gained momentum again when some serious allegations were levelled against Dileep by filmmaker Kumar. The latter alleged that Dileep had watched the video of the sexual assault at his house; that the actor knew the first accused in the case, Pulsar Suni; and that Dileep had influenced some of the significant witnesses in the case who later turned hostile during the trial.
Following this, the survivor sought further investigation in the case, and the court ordered a fresh probe. The Kerala High Court has directed the investigation agency to conclude its probe by April 15.
For a full timeline of the female actor abduction and assault case, see here.