Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala High Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to actor Dileep and others involved in the case pertaining to the alleged conspiracy to kill police officers, who investigated the abduction and sexual assault case of a woman actor in 2017. Dileep has been named as an accused in the case.
Last month, the Crime Branch registered a case against Dileep and five others, based on information provided by the actor’s estranged friend and film director Balachandrakumar. Balachandrakumar has said Dileep hatched the conspiracy on November 15, 2017. Dileep has said that the conspiracy case was fabricated.
The court verdict on anticipatory bail pleas came after several rounds of arguments between the petitioners and the prosecution.
The High has also allowed the Crime Branch to question Dileep and others for 33 hours spread over three days. The court had not allowed custodial interrogation of the accused. Subsequently, the Crime Branch had submitted the interrogation report in the court, which is hearing the bail pleas. Investigators had sought the custody of seven mobile phones, which Dileep and his relatives had used in the past.
As Dileep refused to hand over the mobile phones to the investigators, the prosecution had to move the high court seeking a directive for seizing the device. On January 29, the high court directed Dileep and his two close relatives to produce six mobile phones on January 31.
The accused handed over the mobile phones to the court, which did not allow the Crime Branch to inspect the gadgets, but sent the devices to the forensic laboratory for examination.
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