Kochi: Malayalam actor Dileep, accused of the 2017 actress sexual assault case, has made a series of allegations against his former friend Balachandrakumar, whose recent revelations have put the former in deep trouble.
Dileep, in a reply filed before the Kerala High Court to a police statement against him, said Balachandrakumar has extorted Rs 10 lakh from him on various occasions.
The actor said Balachandrakumar had a grudge against him as he refused to commit to a film project they had discussed.
Dileep said Balachandrakumar had demanded money from him claiming that it was his interventions that helped the former get bail in the 2017 case. In a severe allegation, Dileep said Balachandrakumar had claimed that he had got help from the then Neyyatinkara Bishop of the Latin Catholic Church for making Dileep's bail possible.
The crux of the allegation is that Balachandrakumar, who used to maintain a good relationship with Dileep, had promised to help Dileep by gathering the support of some prominent people through the Bishop. When the actor was granted bail after spending 80 days in jail, Balachandrakumar claimed credit for it and sought money from him.
“After the arrest of Dileep, Balachandrakumar contacted Anoop and Suraj (Dileep's brother and brother-in-law) claiming that he would help them by informing various dignitaries about the innocence of Dileep. The wife of Balachandrakumar is a Latin Catholic Christian and he claimed that he has close relationship with the bishop of Neyyatinkara who he claimed is close to various dignitaries like the chief minister, ministers and senior police officers. Balachandrakumar said he would inform the bishop of the entire details of the false implication of Dileep. The bishop would in turn inform the dignitaries about the true facts which would result in proper investigation and exoneration of Dileep," the actor in his reply to the court states.
"Balachandrakumar is one among the 18 visitors Dileep had when he was in jail for 80 days. Balachandrakumar falsely claimed that it was due to his intervention through the bishop of Neyyatinkara that Dileep got bail. After a month of the release of Dileep on bail, Balachandrakumar demanded money claiming that the bishop had to be paid for the help offered by him. Balachandrakumar also demanded money under the pretext of making payments to a few others claiming that he had made commitments to pay those persons also if Dileep was granted bail," the document reads.
When the actor refuted to pay him, Balachandrakumar threatened to call ADGP Sandhya ad make allegations against him, Dileep says in the document.
The police have seized Dileep's chat records with Balachadrakumar.
The actor claimed that the digital evidence against him were unreliable. The police have not found the tablet said to be used for recording a conversation between Dileep and his co-accused in a fresh case of conspiracy. This itself is a pointer to the fact that the evidence were fabricated, according to the document.
The details of Dileep's allegations have come out even as the Crime Branch has started questioning him and his co-accused, including Anoop and Suraj, in a case relating to alleged conspiracy to eliminate the investigation officers who arrested Dileep in 2017. The case was registered following the revelations made by Balachandrakumar.
On January 9, the Crime Branch registered the case on a complaint filed by an investigating officer based on a purported audio-clip of Dileep, which was telecast by a TV channel in which the actor was allegedly heard conspiring to attack the official.
The actor and five others were booked under various provisions of the IPC, including Sections 116 (abetment), 118 (concealing design to commit offence), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (criminal act done by several people).
This apprehension is borne out of the past conduct of the complainant officer who from the start has been trying to falsely implicate the actor in the sexual assault case, the petition alleged.
The actress-victim who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films was abducted and allegedly molested in her car for two hours by some of the accused, who 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 some of the accused to blackmail the actress.
There are 10 accused in the case and police arrested seven. Dileep was arrested subsequently and released on bail.
