The Congress party on Wednesday asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to apologise for his "off-the-cuff remark" that there was no conspiracy involved in the actress abduction case.
Addressing reporters in the capital city after a meeting with party leaders, state Congress President M.M. Hassan said it was Vijayan who soon after the abduction took place in February, announced that there was no conspiracy angle to the crime.
"It was his statement that helped those behind the conspiracy. It was due to his statement that everything was kept under wraps for long until it surfaced last week that there was indeed a conspiracy behind the kidnapping," he said.
"Following Vijayan's statement, one Lok Sabha member, Innocent (President of the actors' body - AMMA), and two Left-supported legislators, who are also actors -- Mukesh and K.B. Ganesh Kumar, took a very strong stand in the case and dismissed the conspiracy theory," Hassan said.
"What also must not be forgotten is that the prime accused in the abduction case -- Pulsar Suni -- was the driver of Mukesh for two years," said Hassan.
Hassan also came down heavily on the stoic silence of superstar Mammootty in the case.
"Mammootty's silence and the act of Vijayan is now being read together by people as a ploy to torpedo the case and help the real culprits," added Hassan.
The conspiracy angle surfaced after superstar Dileep and his close aide actor-turned-director Nadir Shah were questioned for 13 hours last week.
On Tuesday, the probe team based at Aluva summoned Dileep's brother, and actor Dharmajan Bolghatty.
Later, Bolghatty told the media that the police wanted to clear certain doubts and he had cleared those.
"They showed me a picture of mine with Suni and wanted to know about my connection with him. But I told them that I do not have any link with him and denied having any association with him," said Bolghatty.
Suni, who was brought to the court, told the media people on way that in this case, he was only a small fry. "Big sharks in the case will be known in two days," he said as he was sent in five-day police remand for further questioning.
Hours after the Congress blamed Vijayan for the police failure to put together the conspiracy angle, the Chief Minister said the police probe was going on in the case.
"Police have been given a free hand to go forward without any fear, irrespective of whosoever is involved," said Vijayan while addressing a women's meeting.
A.V. George, Superintendent of Police and a key probe team member, advised the media not to speculate about the ongoing probe.
"The investigation is going on well and there can be no timeframe on when the conspiracy angle in the case would be deciphered. The media should avoid any speculations," said George.