Kochi: Appunni, the manager of embattled actor Dileep, second accused in the actress attack case, has applied for anticipatory bail in the Kerala High Court.
Appunni was on the police radar till Dileep’s arrest on July 10, but he managed to flee immediately after the much-publicized arrest of the star. The police team believes that Appunni could provide crucial evidence which would confirm Dileep's association with main accused Pulsar Suni and thereby his role in plotting the assault on the young actress.
If Appunni is found party to the scheme of this audacious attack, he would also be named an accused in the case.
Pratheesh Chacko to appear before probe team
Pratheesh Chacko, former advocate of Pulsar Suni, has informed the Kerala High Court that he would appear before the probe team on Thursday.
The police wanted to interrogate Chacko after Pulsar Suni deposed that he had handed over the phone used to record the harassment of the actress to the lawyer. It was Chacko who represented Suni in the initial stages of the case.
The court had earlier asked Pratheesh Chacko to appear before the probe officials. If proven innocent, no arrests would be made, the court had said.
Actor Dileep was arrested by the police on July 10 in connection with the abduction and assault of the young actress in Kochi on February 17. The police had arrested Pulsar Suni, who had worked as a driver of many film personalities, six days after the incident. A letter which Pulsar Suni purportedly wrote to actor Dileep had caused a furore.
Dileep had undergone a marathon 13-hour grilling at the Aluva police club days ahead of his arrest. The actor had approached the police saying that the prime accused tried to blackmail him from jail. Things went awry for Dileep after the police found discrepancies in his statements.
Read more: Latest news from Kerala | Bid to abduct young actress in 2011: 2 more in police custody