Actress sexual assault case: Actor Dileep booked in new case

Kochi, January 9

The Crime Branch wing of Kerala Police on Sunday registered a case against actor Dileep and five others for allegedly threatening investigation officers in the sexual assault case of an actress in which he is also an accused.

The Crime Branch registered the case on a complaint filed by an investigating officer based on a purported audio clip of Dileep, which was released by a TV channel recently in which the actor was heard conspiring to attack the officials.

Sources also said that director Balachandra Kumar, who had recently made some startling revelations against Dileep in the actress assault case through media, had also given some corroborative statements to the Crime Branch.

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

While five people including Dileep, two of his relatives and two others were named in the FIR, the sixth accused has been mentioned as an “identifiable person”.

The victim—an actor who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films—was abducted and allegedly molested inside 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 initially, police arrested seven people. Dileep was arrested subsequently and let out on bail later.

The case comes as the trial in the actress assault matter was progressing in a special court in Kochi. —PTI

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