Kerala Actor Assault Case: HC Asks Dileep, His Aides To Submit All Old Phones On Monday

The single-judge bench headed by Justice Gopinath P issued the order while hearing the petition of the Crime Branch to retrieve the mobile phones of actor Dileep and the other accused in the case

Kerala Actor Assault Case: HC Asks Dileep, His Aides To Submit All Old Phones On Monday (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: While hearing the 2017 actress assault case where Malayalam actor Dileep is alleged to be in connection with the conspiracy to eliminate the investigative officers, the Kerala High Court on Saturday asked the defence to submit the six phones of the actor and his aides in a sealed cover on Monday.

The single-judge bench headed by Justice Gopinath P issued the order while hearing the petition of the Crime Branch to retrieve the old mobile phones belonging to actor Dileep and the other accused in the case.

Though the prosecution counsel argued that there were seven phones – four belonging to actor Dileep, two of his brother Anoop and another of his brother-in-law –  Dileep said that he has only three phones, prompting the court to ask for the six of them.

According to the defence counsel, the phones have been handed over to a forensic firm to recover the conversation the actor had with Balachandrakumar, the director who had said that Dileep was conspiring in eliminating the investigative officers probing the abduction and assault case. The defence counsel requested for time till Tuesday, however, the court insisted on submitting the phones by Monday.

The counsel for the actor also flagged that his phone has private conversations with his first wife (actress Manju Warrier) and others and said that the prosecution might infringe upon his privacy and leak the actor’s private conversations.

Other than the accused actor, his brother Anoop, brother-in-law Sooraj, aide Appu alias Krishnadas, and his close friend Byju Chengamanad have been grilled for 33 hours over three days earlier this week.

Actor Dileep’s name has been in the spotlight after the Kerala actress complained that she had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a gang of goons in 2017 and some scenes were filmed to blackmail her.

After the arrest of the prime accused Sunil, actor Dileep was arrested after being charged of being the main conspirator in the case.