Actor Dileep’s Remand Extended till August 8

KOCHI:
The remand of actor Dileep, who was arrested in connection with the abduction and assault of Malayalam actress, was extended till August 8 by the Angamaly court.
Following security reasons, Dileep was produced before the court through video conferencing. Earlier, when Dileep was produced before the Angamaly magistrate court, the police had a hard time to control the public. Police requested the court for video conferencing and it was accepted.
The bail plea of Dileep was rejected by the High Court. The court said that there was prima facie evidence of the actors involvement in the case. The accused was a prominent actor and could influence the witnesses if left out on bail.
Earlier, Angamaly Judicial First Class Magistrate Court rejected Dileep’s bail plea and sent him to judicial custody till 25th July.
Objecting strongly against granting bail to the arrested actor, the special prosecutor argued in the court that Dileep can potentially destroy the evidence if he is granted bail. According to police, there are 19 strong evidences against Dileep. Earlier, the prosecution had argued that the remarks made by the actor against the attacked actress only reveals his mental stature and, therefore, he should not be granted bail.
Meanwhile, Dileep’s counsel has submitted both the phones of the actor before the court for scientific examination. His advocate Ramkumar stated that the police move was based only on the statement given by the key accused Pulsar Suni.
Angamaly court extended the police custody of Dileep till July 15 following the appeal of the police to complete the evidence collection. Dileep was taken to Kochi, Thodupuzha and Thrissur by the police as part of the investigation to gather evidence. A photograph taken between a shooting session at Thrissur confirmed that Dileep and Pulsar Suni were together at the location. The police, further confirmed it when they traced Dileep’s and Suni’s mobile phones to the same tower in Thrissur.
The police also took Dileep to Hotel Joys Palace, Hotel Garuda and Thrissur Tennis club. A selfie taken by Dileep at Thrissur Tennis Club showed Pulsar Suni in the background. Dileep was also taken to Thodupuzha and Kochi on Wednesday as part of evidence collection.
Dileep was arrested on July 10 for the kidnapping and sexual assault of an actress in February.
He was arrested for his prima facie role in a conspiracy and to facilitate further investigation as well as evidence collections. He will be presented before the magistrate court on Tuesday.
Dileep was questioned last month for over 12 hours after he claimed he and a director were being blackmailed for 1.5 crores by the kidnappers, including the actress’ driver Pulsar Suni, the main accused.
Dileep has been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. The actor was sent to sub-jail at Aluva.
Dileep was removed from ‘AMMA’, hours after he was arrested in connection with the abduction and sexual assault of an actress.
The executive committee of Malayalam actors’ guild Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) has taken the decision in this regard. The emergency meeting was held at the residence of actor Mammootty, who is also general secretary of AMMA.
The Kerala Film Producers Association and Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) have also suspended Dileep’s primary membership in their organisations.