Dileep and others granted anticipatory bail in actress’ sexual assault

February 7, 2022 - 5:23 PM IST

The Kerala High Court has granted actor Dileep and others anticipatory bail in the latest case against them, saying that they planned to eliminate officers investigating a sexual assault on an actress in 2017. In order to resolve a personal grudge, the actor was accused of hiring someone to abuse and record a Kerala actress.

Dileep and others granted anticipatory bail in actress’ sexual assault

According to the reports, the actor was given relief by Justice Gopinath, who stated that the police's suspicions of non-co-operation and influencing witnesses can be addressed by imposing restrictions, which, if breached, can lead to a petition for arresting the accused despite the grant of anticipatory bail.

News18 reported that the police had argued in court that Dileep and the others were not complying with the investigation in the latest FIR filed against them, while the actor had denied the claims, claiming that the case was "manufactured" and "manipulation."

During arguments, the police were represented by Director-General of Prosecution TA Shaji and assistant public prosecutor P Narayanan, who informed the court that the nature and gravity of the accusations against them, as well as their conduct thus far, disentitle them to any relief.

On the other hand, Dileep and the other accused, including his brother and brother-in-law, claimed that they answered all of the police's questions during their 33-hour interrogation, which was spread out over three days and 11-hours each, and that they had only refused to give a confession, which was interpreted as non-cooperation.

The new case was filed on January 9 after an investigating officer received a complaint based on an alleged audio recording of Dileep, which was telecasted by a TV channel, in which the actor was purportedly heard scheming to harm the official.

On January 24, the Kerala Police Crime Branch called Malayalam director Rafi for questioning at the Kalamassery police station, where they were questioning actor Dileep.

Dileep's brother Anoop, brother-in-law Sooraj, aide Appu, alias Krishnadas, and close buddy Byju Chengamanad were among those being questioned.

For the uninitiated, Dileep rose to prominence after a leading South Indian heroine claimed in 2017 that she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a team of goons and that certain sequences were taped to blackmail her. The prosecution charged Dileep with being the principal conspirator in the case after the main accused Sunil was apprehended and questioned. Dileep was apprehended and imprisoned. He was imprisoned for two months before being released on bond, and his trial is still ongoing.

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