In a major development in the case of abduction and assault of a leading woman actor from the Malayalam film industry in February 2017, a lot of crucial evidence related to the case has been handed over to actor Dileep.
Malayalam actor Dileep is the eighth accused in the case and is alleged to be the kingpin behind the planned assault. He is accused of hiring a quotation gang to abduct the woman actor, assault her and videograph the crime.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case, on Monday handed over six CCTV visuals of the woman actor's car being driven from Thrissur to Kochi, which is when the crime happened. The SIT has also handed over statements of the first accused Sunil Kumar alias Pulsar Suni. Apart from these, two forensic reports of mobile phones of the second and fourth accused have also been handed over to Dileep, apart from 187 documents related to evidence collection, say reports.
The decision comes in the wake of Angamaly Magistrate Court asking the prosecution to hand over the said evidence. This was after Dileep moved the court, asking for all evidence including the assault visuals, to be handed over to him.
Although the court has asked the prosecution to hand over several pieces of evidence, the court is yet to take a decision on Dileep's plea for access to the assault visuals. The matter is expected to be taken up on February 7.
Dileep had moved a petition at the Angamaly Magistrate Court earlier in January, seeking all the evidence including assault visuals to be handed over to him. In his petition, he argued that a woman's voice could be heard in the assault visuals and that the police have not even enquired whose voice it is.
However, the prosecution argued against allowing Dileep, an accused, access to the assault visuals. The court had asked the police to file an affidavit in response to Dileep's petition, for which the police too insisted that the visuals shall not be given to Dileep. Police had told the court that Dileep, who is an influential person, could use the visuals to defame the woman survivor and therefore, shouldn't get access to them.