Malayalam actor Dileep, accused of plotting the 2017 actress assault case and conspiring to harm the investigation officers, has raised severe allegations against the police in Kerala High Court.
Dileep, represented by senior lawyer B Raman Pillai, told the high court that he has been booked in the conspiracy case as part of the police's attempts to fabricate evidence against him. He said the allegation that he had a close relationship with Sunilkumar (Pulsar Suni), the prime accused in the sexual assault case, was totally false.
Dileep made the arguments when the high court was hearing the anticipatory bail plea moved by him and the others named as accused in the conspiracy case registered by the Crime Branch last month.
Justice Gopinath P will hear the prosecution at 1.45 pm on Friday.
Dileep said the Crime Branch's FIR contained several allegations that were not in the statement of Balachandrakumar, a former friend of Dileep who recently came out against the actor, leading to the registration of the new case.
Reiterating that he has not conspired to harm the investigation officers, Dileep said his remark that 'you will suffer', which he made about a police officer while watching a video of his arrest, was only a curse.
"How can something a person tells his relatives openly at home could be a conspiracy," Dileep's lawyer argued. He reiterated the demand to find the tablet, the original device used by Balachandrakumar to record conversations between Dileep and other accused.
Dileep asked how he could expect justice when the petitioner in the conspiracy case is Baiju Poulose, the police officer who is investigating the assault case. "Balachandrakumar's statement does not mention that Dileep threatened to harm Baiju Poulose. But the FIR mentions the officer's name," Dileep's lawyer said.
Dileep's lawyer also refuted the charge that the actor threatened to chop off the hand of a police officer named Sudarshan.
Dileep also reiterated that Balachandrakumar had a grudge against him as he had backed off a film project the two had planned. "Balachandrakumar wanted Dileep to announce the film and talk to some people whom the former owe money," Dileep's lawyer said.
On Tuesday, six phones belonging to Dileep and his aides were produced before the Aluva magistrate. It is at the magistrate court here the FIR in the conspiracy case was registered.
The phones will be sent for forensic examination in Thiruvananthapuram.
Earlier, the prosecution had informed the court that the defendant was trying to derail the case by not producing all the phones requested by the Crime Branch.
The prosecution had argued that there were seven mobile phones, and not six —four of Dileep, two of his brother Anoop, and one used by his brother-in-law Sooraj.
They pointed out the existence of another phone from which more than 12,000 calls have been made.
They also dismissed the actor's claim that he was not aware of any such phone by adding that the phone was in use till only a few months back.
In connection with this, the actor and his aides were interrogated for 33 hours over three days this week.
A leading south Indian female actor had complained that she had been abducted and sexually assaulted by a gang in 2017 and the incident was filmed to blackmail her.
After the main accused Pulsar Suni was arrested and questioned, Dileep was accused of being the main conspirator and arrested.
According to the prosecution, Dileep, who is presently out on bail after spending two months in jail, had also seen the visuals of the attack on the female actor.
