KOCHI: The crime Branch raided the houses of actor Dileep and his brother Anoop in Aluva and the office of his film production house in Kochi on Thursday to trace a pistol the actor allegedly possesses without licence.
Mobile phones and computer harddisks were seized during the search that lasted for eight hours, but no pistol was found. The raids were part of the recently registered case for hatching a conspiracy to harm police officers who probed the actor abduction and rape case in which Dileep is an accused.
Crime Branch ADGP S Sreejith said the search was carried out with the permission of the court. “We had received a search warrant from court. The interrogation in the case related to the conspiracy to harm police officers will be completed without delay,” said Sreejith.
Asked about whether Dileep would be arrested soon, the officer said he could not say anything about it. It was director P Balachandrakumar who revealed to the Crime Branch that Dileep possessed a pistol without a licence.
We didn’t quiz Dileep, only carried out search in his presence: Ernakulam SP
The officers verified the list of persons in the state who hold gun licence and found his name was not there. A 50-member team led by Ernakulam SP Mohanachandran Nair raided the houses of Dileep and Anoop at 11.30am while a 15-member team led by DySP Baiju Paulose carried out the search at the office of Graand Production House.
The Crime Branch team found the gate of Dileep’s compound locked and the officers jumped over its wall to check the premises. A few minutes later, Dileep’s sister, residing at Aluva, came and opened the house. Dileep arrived two hours later.
The officers found the Grand Production House office too locked initially before two staff came in the afternoon and opened its doors. “We didn’ t quest ion Dileep, we only carried out search in his presence,” said Mohanachandran Nair.