Kochi: Actress Kavya Madhavan, wife of actor Dileep and a witness in the 2017 case registered over the sexual assault of her film industry colleague has denied the allegation that the latter was targeted by a criminal gang in order to protect certain financial interests of her husband. She gave the statement during her questioning by the Crime Branch team at her house in Aluva on Monday.
Even though such allegations against Dileep were raised in 2017 itself when the crime occurred, the police received no clues then to further probe into these allegations.
Recently, the Crime Branch looked into the earlier allegations, especially after the release of the voice clip of Dileep's brother-in-law TN Suraj which indicated that the personal animosity between Kavya and the survivor actress in the case had led to the crime.
The Crime Branch finally decided to question Kavya based on the tip-offs received from the statements given by some witnesses during the further investigation in the case.
The probe team reportedly brought to her attention certain contradictory aspects in her statement.
Many times during the questioning, Kavya replied that she did not remember when asked specifically about certain incidents and its timings.
The questioning, which began at 12.45 pm, lasted till 4 pm except for a short break. The interrogators included Crime Branch Superintendent of Police MP Mohanachandran, and the officer probing the 2017 case, Baiju M Paulose.
Though a notice was sent two times to Kavya earlier asking her to appear before the Aluva Police Club for questioning, she insisted that as a witness she should be questioned only at her home.
On February 17, 2017, the renowned actress was sexually assaulted by a gang in a moving car near Kochi. Subsequently, the gang members and Dileep were arrested. It is suspected Dileep was the mastermind of the sensational crime.
