Dileep Appears for Questioning in Further Probe in Actor Assault Case

The police reportedly have new evidence in the case, including statements collected from director Balachandrakumar.

Malayalam film actor Dileep is accused of having conspired to orchestrate the rape of an actress.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

Actor Dileep, accused of masterminding the sexual assault of a fellow actor in 2017, has been taken in for questioning by the Crime Branch of Kerala.

The trial of the case was nearing completion when new evidence emerged last November and the police requested for further investigation.

The police reportedly have some new evidence in the case, including statements collected from director Balachandra Kumar who was once close to Dileep and a few other evidences, which they hope can prove to the court that Dileep was in touch with Pulsar Suni, the main accused in the case who had kidnapped and sexually assaulted the female actor in February 2017.

Dileep is being questioned at the Aluva police club by investigators.

Balachandrakumar had, last November, come out with a series of allegations against Dileep, including a number of implicating audio recordings, that gave rise to a new conspiracy case against the actor.

Dileep has been accused of conspiring with others to murder police officials who have been investigating the actor assault case.

There have also been reports of a cyber expert and hacker, Sai Shankar, deleting evidence from Dileep’s phone - including chats and court-related data.

Dileep and others who were accused in another case (conspiring to kill police officers) had been reluctant in submitting their phones to the police, until another appeal to the court had to be made for it.

Even then, it took days before the phones were finally submitted to the Aluva magistrate, as directed by the high court.

The further probe in the case is being conducted after a green light from the Kerala High Court, which dismissed Dileep’s plea against the fresh investigation.

A Kerala High Court bench of Justice Kauser Edappagath ordered that all further investigation in the actor assault case must be concluded by 15 April.

(Published in arrangement with The News Minute.)