Actor Dileep’s anticipatory bail plea, in the new FIR filed against him for allegedly conspiring to kill the cops investigating him in the ongoing female actor abduction and sexual assault case, will be heard on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Justice P Gopinath granted adjournment on the bail plea until next Wednesday, after Director General of Prosecution TA Shaji informed the court that the examination of digital evidence was yet to be completed.
Shaji also said that a sealed report on the three-day interrogation of Dileep and the other accused will be submitted on Tuesday.
Dileep’s counsel, senior advocate B Raman Pillai, asked that the actor’s temporary protection from arrest be extended till the next hearing. The prosecution agreed to this, and the court thus extended the interim order, directing that no arrest be made until Wednesday.
In accordance with the high court’s order, Dileep and the other accused had appeared for interrogation at the Crime Branch office from Sunday to Tuesday. The court had also instructed the accused to fully cooperate with the probe, and said that violations of any conditions would lead to their interim protection being revoked. They were interrogated individually at the Crime Branch office over the three days between 9 am and 8 pm.
During the course of the interrogation, aside from the accused, the Crime Branch also recorded statements of filmmakers Rafi, Arun Gopi, Vyasan Edavanakkad, Dileep’s confidante and advocate Sajith, and Sijo, the accountant of the recently released film Kesu Ee Veedinte Nadhan, according to an Onmanorama report.
As per the police, Vyasan was summoned to identify the voices of the accused, including Dileep, in the audio clips submitted by director Balachandra Kumar. It was based on these clips, in which the accused allegedly discuss killing the investigators, that the new FIR was filed.
Advocate Sajith was reportedly the one who had spoken to Kumar in person on Dileep’s behalf and, as per the Onmanorama report, his statements confirmed Dileep’s counter allegations that the filmmaker tried to extort money from him.
The investigation team has not questioned Kumar as yet and only plans to summon him after examining the allegations raised against him.
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Meanwhile, one Dasan, who worked at Dileep’s house when the alleged incident happened, and the staff at his production company were summoned and their statements recorded.
Recently, the Kerala high court turned down the State’s plea requesting an extension for the trial against Dileep in the 2017 actor assault case. February 16 is the deadline set by the Supreme Court for completion of the trial.
However, the high court did grant the prosecution 10 more days to examine the additional witnesses summoned in the case.
For a full timeline of the female actor abduction and assault case, see here.