Kakkanad (Ernakulam): The Crime Branch has collected the voice samples of actor Dileep, his brother P Anoop and brother-in-law T N Suraj as part of its investigation into the alleged conspiracy to harm a couple of police officers who were part of the probe into the sexual assault of an actress in 2017.

All three reached Chitranjali Studio here together for recording their voice samples. However, Dileep’s voice sample was collected only after those of Anoop and Suraj.

Police officers made Dileep, Anoop and Suraj read aloud the same words which were heard in a voice clip presented by film director Balachandrakumar. The director had claimed that the voices in the clip belonged to Dileep and the two others. Similarly, the voice messages on WhatsApp also were recorded.

The voices, recorded by technical experts, would be copied on a CD and handed over to the Forensic Laboratory.

Dileep and his two relatives are accused of hatching a conspiracy to harm the investigating officers. Balachandrakumar had produced voice clips which he claimed were recorded while Dileep and the other accused were planning the attack.

Top Crime Branch officers, including Superintendent of Police M P Mohanachandran, were present at the studio when the recording took place. The official witness was Special Village Officer Joby Mathew.

Dileep and the other accused were summoned to reach Chitranjali Studio located at Ayyathumoola Road, near NGO Quarters, in Kakkanad at 11am on Tuesday and they arrived by 10:57am. Crime Branch and local police officers were already present on the premises when the three arrived.

Dileep and his relatives left the studio after the recording by 2:10pm.

Prosecution seeks more time
Meanwhile, Justice Kauser Edappagath of the Kerala High Court posted to February 16 the hearing on a petition filed by Dileep seeking a ban on publication of news related to the ongoing trial of the actress assault case in a special court. This was based on a plea by the Crime Branch seeking more time to file its affidavit.

Earlier, the High Court had directed the Director General of Police to check whether the media had violated the court’s order related to reporting on the case and file a report within two weeks.

When the court considered the case on Tuesday, the government informed the judge that a case was registered over the matter against ‘Reporter’ television channel and its head M V Nikesh Kumar. Subsequently, the Crime Branch sought more time to file a detailed report.