Actor Dileep, co-accused appear before Crime Branch

Kochi: Actor Dileep has arrived at the Crime Branch office on Sunday as per the Kerala High Court's direction for questioning in a case registered against him for allegedly threatening probe officials of the 2017 actor-assault case in which he is an accused too, PTI reports. The actor reached the court at 8:50 am, as well as other accused, but refused to talk to the media.

On Saturday, the High Court had granted Dileep interim protection from arrest but had ordered him and co-accused to appear before Crime Branch on January 23, 24 and 25. Justice Gopinath P had ordered them to cooperate with the agency and be present for the questioning from 9 am to 8 pm. In case of no cooperation, the interim protection from his arrest will be lifted, and Crime Branch will be granted custody, the court said.

Sources from Crime Branch said that the interrogation sessions would be recorded as a precaution if Dileep and co-accused told the court that they were harassed during the sessions.

The court ordered the public prosecutor to submit a report on the interrogation and material evidence in a sealed cover on January 27, the next schedule of the hearing.

The new case against the actor, which is rooted in the actor assault case, was registered on January 9 based on a complaint filed by an investigative officer. In an audio clip released by TV a Channel, Dileep allegedly conspired to harm the official. The actor and five others were booked under various sections of 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 co-accused include Dileep's brother P Sivakumar and brother-in-law TN Suraj.