The Kerala High Court restrained the police from arresting Malayalam actor Dileep till January 27, in a case registered by the Crime Branch of Kerala Police for allegedly threatening the investigation officials probing the actress assault case of 2017. The Court also directed the accused, including Dileep, to report before the investigation officer on January 23rd, 24th and 25th and also said that they shall be available for interrogation and such other probe as necessary, reported ANI.
Kerela High Court also issued an interim order on the anticipatory plea filed by Dileep. The next hearing in the case is on January 27, added ANI.
Meanwhile, Justice Gopinath P on Friday had said a special sitting will be held in the high court on January 22 for the detailed hearing of the anticipatory bail plea filed by the actor.
The Crime Branch wing of the Kerala police had on Thursday filed a statement in the high court opposing the anticipatory bail plea and said it was for the first time in the state’s history that a person accused of a serious offence hatched a criminal conspiracy to harm the life of investigating officers. Meanwhile, the Crime Branch had recently submitted a report before the Judicial First Class Magistrate court at Aluva, which is the trial court in the threatening case.
The Crime Branch report said it had added Section 302 (murder) along with Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code since the accused had conspired to murder the probe officers as per the first information statement. Besides Dileep, his younger brother P Sivakumar and brother-in-law T N Suraj have also moved the high court seeking the same relief.
The actor and five others were booked under various provisions of the IPC, 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 joint plea moved by all three has claimed that the complaint lodged against them by the officer Deputy SP (Crime Branch) Baiju Paulose was false.
(With PTI inputs)
