KOCHI: While the trial court observed that the prosecution was duty-bound to examine prime accused Pulsar Suni’s claim about a ‘madam’, the chargesheet filed on July 22, 2022, indicated that the special investigation team (SIT) had probed the alleged role of actor Dileep’s wife, Kavya Madhavan, in the 2017 actor abduction case.
“We don’t understand why the court made a sweeping observation suggesting that the investigation team did not look into the so-called ‘madam’. In addition to investigating about the ‘madam’, we also probed Suni’s relationship with Kavya, his close acquaintance Sreelakshmi, and their common friend Shiny,” a top source with the probe team told TNIE.
In her first statement, the survivor said that Suni told her he had received a “quotation” and that it was given by a woman. “When the survivor asked who it was, Suni replied that she already knew the woman and added that she would certainly know who her enemies were. This itself raised suspicion that the ‘madam’ could be Kavya, and further indications also emerged as the investigation progressed,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, crime branch DySP Byju Paulose, the investigating officer in the case, said Suni himself had given statements about his association with Kavya and admitted that he had worked as her driver.
“One of the witnesses, who functioned as a ‘call driver’ for Kavya, stated that he had assigned Suni to drive her to a function in Thrissur. Suni revealed that it was not a one-time assignment and that he had served as her driver on several occasions, after being contacted by her directly,” Byju said.
The officer also said that after committing the heinous act, instead of contacting his close acquaintance who had called him multiple times, Suni first attempted to visit the shop co-owned by Kavya, in search of her and Dileep. However, he added that although Kavya’s involvement was suspected, she was not named as an accused as no strong material evidence was found to substantiate the allegation.
Further, a senior police officer who supervised the investigation pointed to a voice clip in which actor Dileep told witness Balachandrakumar, “This punishment was not meant for me but for another woman. I was punished after repeatedly trying to save her.”
The clip was subjected to scientific examination at a forensic science laboratory, was identified by witnesses, and produced before the court.
“Despite its evidentiary value, the court excluded it, citing doubts over the credibility of the witness,” the officer said.