KOCHI: In a major development in the case related to the actor abduction case, the prosecution has approached the Additional Special Sessions Court to cancel the bail granted to actor Dileep, the eighth accused. The court will consider the petition on Tuesday.According to sources, the prosecution alleged that Dileep influenced witnesses, which is a violation of bail conditions. The prosecution is set to pinpoint instances where a few witnesses are suspected to have been influenced by the accused.
“While some witnesses were examined as part of the trial, the prosecution claims that they noticed some of them had backtracked from their previous statements. The prosecution’s main demand is to cancel the bail granted to Dileep as they claim he has violated the conditions laid down by the court before setting him free. The content of the petition is provided only to Dileep’s counsel,” sources said.
When TNIE approached officials and lawyers from the prosecution side for comment, they refused.“A petition has been filed to cancel the bail granted to Dileep. The exact content cannot be revealed as it is under the consideration of the court,” an official said. The prosecution had earlier raised apprehension in the court orally about witnesses being influenced by the accused persons in the case.
However, this is the first time a petition has been filed before the trial court to cancel bail. In December 2019, the Additional Special Sessions Court had cancelled the bail of the ninth accused, Sanal Kumar, who did not turn up before the court despite multiple notices being issued.After an actor was abducted and abused sexually in a moving vehicle on February 18, 2017, Dileep was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on July 10, 2017.
He remained in jail for 85 days and was granted bail by the Kerala High Court on October 3, 2017 under stringent conditions.The trial in the case has been progressing at the Additional Special Sessions Court, with around 50 witnesses examined so far. Actors Siddique, Bhama and Mukesh are set to be examined next week.