Kerala HC postpones anticipatory bail plea hearing of actor Dileep till Tuesday

The Kerala High Court on Friday (January 14) postponed the hearing of the anticipatory bail plea of Malayalam actor Dileep, who is facing arrest in the 2017 abduction and molestation case of an actress, till Tuesday.

The court has said that it needs to check the statement of director Balachandra Kumar, based on which a fresh case against Dileep and five others was filed, before taking a call on the anticipatory bail plea.

Also read: Plot thickens as police raid Dileep’s home, offices in Kerala

This comes a day after a Crime Branch team, probing the case, raided the residence and office of Dileep. During the six-hour raid, the team confiscated three cell phones owned by the actor, a computer hard disc, two iPads and a pen drive. The permission for the raid was given by the trial court hearing the case.

Dileep, who was reportedly missing and was not available on calls, returned to his Aluva residence three hours after the raids began.

Dileep is an accused in the abduction and molestation case of a popular South Indian actress. The actress was allegedly kidnapped and molested by a group of men in a moving car on February 19, 2017.

In her complaint, the survivor had identified a man named Pulsar Suni as the main accused. Suni, who has criminal antecedents has worked as a driver for several actors. Seven people including Suni were arrested in the case and a chargesheet was filed in April that year.

In June, Dileep’s name surfaced in the case after a letter written by him to Suni got leaked. Dileep and his friend Nadirsha had claimed at that time that a person claiming to be Suni’s acquaintance was demanding ₹1.5 crore from the actor to not reveal his name in the case.

Also read: Withdraw magazine with actor Dileep on cover, demands petition

On July 10, 2017, a special investigation team arrested Dileep, stating he had orchestrated the entire crime to take revenge on the actress. The actress was one of Dileep’s then wife Manju Warrier and had told the latter about her husband’s alleged affair with co-star Kavya Madhavan.

The actor was granted bail in October that year after spending almost three months in prison.

On January 9 this year, the Crime Branch of Kerala Police filed a fresh FIR under non-bailable sections against Dileep and five others for allegedly threatening investigating officials.

The case was filed, after audio clips in which Dileep and others are heard threatening officials investigating the case, surfaced.

Director Balachandra Kumar also gave a statement that Dileep had a close relationship with Suni and that he had conspired to endanger the lives of five investigating officials in the case.

Dileep, his brother Anoop and brother-in-law Sooraj had moved the court for anticipatory bail.

Also read: Dileep’s wife Kavya & brother knew about the crime, says filmmaker

Refuting allegations of threatening the investigation officers, Dileep in his petition had said that the case has been filed on the basis of false allegations and accused police of being a part of the conspiracy against him. He had alleged that Balachandra Kumar raised the allegations only when the trial in the case was nearing completion.

The Kerala High Court had posted the hearing of the bail petition to January 14.