KOCHI: Actor Manju Warrier on Thursday was cross-examined by her former husband Dileep's counsel for nearly five hours as part of the actor abduction case in which a trial is being held at the Additional Special Sessions Court in Kochi. As the cross-examination of Manju lasted for hours, the court could not examine actor Bindhu Panikkar and Siddique who were present at the court till evening.
Manju who is the 11th witness in the actor abduction case reached the court in Kaloor at around 9.30 am. Actor Dileep, the eighth accused in the case, turned up at 10.50 am. All the accused were present at the court. The trial procedure started at 11.05 am. The chief examination of Manju by the prosecution lasted for nearly one-and-a-half hours. The cross-examination of Manju by the senior lawyer B Raman Pillai who represents Dileep started at around 12.30 pm and continued till 1.30 pm when the court dispersed for the lunch break.
The post-lunch session commenced at 2.30 pm and continued till 6.30 pm. Counsels of the other accused decided not to cross-examine Manju. There was a heated debate between prosecution and defence counsels over allegations that the accused are attempting to influence witnesses. Bindhu Panikkar and Siddique -- the12th and 13th witnesses -- waited till 5.30 pm after which the court decided to examine them later.
The court will examine actors Geethu Mohandas, Samyuktha Varma and Kunjako Boban on Friday. The next day, the court is scheduled to examine director and ad-filmmaker Sreekumar Menon. Earlier, the court had examined witnesses including actor Ramya Nambeesan and actor-cum-director Lal.
The court had framed charges against 10 people in the case -- Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikantan, Vijesh, Saleem, Pradeep, Charly Thomas, Dileep, Sanal Kumar and Vishnu. On February 17, 2017, a film actress was abducted and molested inside a moving vehicle.