Allegations by crime branch fabricated, actor Dileep says in Kerala High Court

PTI, Mar 16, 2022, 6:40 PM IST

Actor Dileep has contended in the Kerala High Court that the Crime Branch has levelled false and fabricated allegations of destruction of evidence against him and others, who are accused of conspiring to kill and threaten officials probing into the 2017 actress assault case as well as their lawyers.

The actor, in his reply to a recent statement filed by the Crime Branch, claimed that the agency and its officers investigating into the latest case against him were peddling lies after lies.

The statement of the Crime Branch was filed in response to Dileep’s plea to quash the FIR on murder conspiracy or transfer the probe to the CBI.

Denying the allegations in the statement, the actor contended that baseless accusations have been fabricated by the investigating agency with regard to the phones submitted by him and others, including his brother and brother-in-law, for forensic analysis.

In his reply, filed through advocates Philip T Varghese and Thomas T Varghese, the actor said the purpose of the forensic examination of the phones presently and recently used by the accused was not to find out material regarding the 2017 case, but to conduct a roving enquiry into the data contained in them for making allegations.

”The dishonest nature of the investigation, which has become the trademark of the respondents 2,3 and 5 (police officials), is evident from the stories planted by them in the media about the phones of the accused. The allegation that the petitioner (Dileep) and other accused removed and concealed their mobile phones within a few days of disclosure of offences by Balachandra Kumar is an incorrect and misleading statement,” the actor said in his reply.

The actor claimed that the mobile phones were sent to a mobile forensic expert to extract data from them regarding communications with Kumar to confront him with the same if he was made a prosecution witness and the decision to do so was taken much before the fresh case was registered.

He claimed that extraction, restoration or deletion of data from a phone by its user was neither clandestine nor illegal and regarding the clearing of 12 WhatsApp messages from his phone, the actor contended that the same is a regular process adopted by many users of the messaging platform.

The actor contended that no tampering of any of the phones or shredding of any data from the phones has been detected by the Forensic Science Laboratory, contrary to the vague and false claims by the Crime Branch.

He further claimed that the allegation of Crime Branch that the actor’s lawyers assisted in destruction of prosecution evidence was fanciful, preposterous and baseless.

”Such an allegation has been recklessly and irresponsibly fabricated so as to scandalise them,” Dileep claimed.

Meanwhile, the actress-victim lodged a complaint with the Bar Council of Kerala against senior advocate B Raman Pillai and the other lawyers who represent Dileep and the other accused, and sought an enquiry into whether they were involved in influencing witnesses and tampering with evidence in the case.

The actress claimed she has come to know from news reports as well as various other sources that Dileep’s lawyers were not assisting the court in the matter, as they are required to, and instead were acting contrary to the rules of the legal profession.

She urged the Bar Council of Kerala to take appropriate action in the matter.

On March 8, the Crime Branch filed a statement alleging that Dileep’s plea to quash the FIR was a bundle of lies and distorted facts.

The agency claimed that the actor and the other accused as well as their lawyers were involved in tampering or destruction of the evidence in the case.

The actor and five others were booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including sections 116 (abetment), 118 (concealing design to commit offence), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (criminal act done by several people).

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 people 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 those persons to blackmail the actress.

There are 10 accused in the 2017 case and police have arrested seven. Dileep was arrested subsequently and released on bail.