KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Monday dismissed the plea of actor Dileep, the eighth accused in the 2017 actor abduction and sexual assault case, seeking to transfer the investigation to the CBI.
The court observed that the trial before the Principal District and Sessions Court in Ernakulam is nearing completion. A Division Bench Justice A Muhamed Mustaque and Justice P Krishna Kumar issued the order on the appeal filed by Dileep, challenging a Single Judge’s 2018 order that had declined his request for a CBI probe.
Dileep contended that although a charge sheet was filed on April 17, 2017, the mobile phone used to record the incident was not recovered, and the investigation should have continued to retrieve it.
According to Dileep, the investigation was unfair and tainted, and the truth was suppressed. He alleged that there was a concerted effort to spread rumours about his involvement and to implicate him in the criminal case. It was further claimed that the first accused, through his associates, attempted to blackmail him and extort money by threatening to falsely implicate him in the crime.
Since he did not yield, the first accused allegedly named him in the case. He further claimed that no proper investigation was conducted into these aspects. The Inspector General of Police, who was the supervising officer, was allegedly sidelined, and the investigation was carried out by a few officers who, according to Dileep, were intent on implicating him in the case. Hence, he sought a direction to the State to transfer the investigation to the CBI, ensuring a fair, impartial, and truthful inquiry.