Actor Dileep, friend accused of destroying evidence in assault case: Kerala court

Actor Dileep, who is an accused in the 2017 actress abduction and assault case, has been charged with destroying evidence in the case. The charge of destroying evidence has been made out against the actor Dileep, said a Kerala court on Friday (October 28).

The charges under section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and 204 (destruction of electronic record or document to prevent its production as evidence) under the IPC, were made out against the actor and his businessman-friend Sarath, said the court.

According to the actor’s lawyer, the court had dismissed their pleas to free them from these additional charges. The matter was listed on October 31 so that the charges can be read out to the two accused, the lawyer added.

Also read: Assault case: Survivor used Barkha Dutt interview as a ploy, says Dileep in SC

The police had filed an additional chargesheet in July this year, in which these charges were invoked, after carrying out a further probe into the 2017 case based on certain revelations made by the director Balachandra Kumar. This had led to a big twist in this sensational case.

Also read: Dileep case: Memory card accessed at night deepens mystery

The sexual assault survivor, an actress who has worked in Tamil and Telugu films, was allegedly abducted and molested in her car for two hours by the accused. The accused had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area. The entire act was filmed by the accused to blackmail the actress, according to the prosecution.

There are 10 accused in the case.