KASARGOD: Actor and MLA KB Ganesh Kumar’s office secretary, M Pradeep Kottathala, has been booked for threatening and trying to influence an approver in the actor abduction and assault case. Bekal police, investigating the case, submitted a report to Hosdurg court identifying Kottathala as the person who made calls to Vipin Lal, the key approver in the case.
Vipin Lal, a native of Pallikkara in Kasaragod, filed a complaint with Bekal police in September alleging that he was getting calls and letters since January, urging him to change his statement in the case. Vipin Lal had told officers investigating the actor abduction case that he was forced by 'Pulsar' Suni and authorities of Kakkanad jail in Kochi to write a letter to actor Dileep asking for money.
The police found that the letter was written by Vipin Lal, who was sharing the prison cell with Suni, but signed by Suni. Vipin Lal, who turned approver, has reportedly given a confidential statement to the police implicating Dileep.
The letter and the statement are crucial pieces of evidence in the case in which Suni is the main accused and Dileep is charged with conspiracy.The actress was kidnapped and assaulted in a car while she was returning to Kochi from Thrissur after shooting on February 17, 2017.
In his complaint to Bekal police, Vipin Lal said a person, impersonating a staffer of Dileep's lawyer, called his mother from a jewellery shop in Kasaragod on January 23. The impersonator allegedly urged her to convince Vipin Lal to change his statement to the police. The complaint did not name any person, said Bekal inspector Anil Kumar.
Bekal police took the footage of the surveillance camera in the jewellery shop to identify Kottathala. Vipin Lal’s uncle worked in the jewellery shop and Kottathala went there to get his contact details, said the police.The Bekal Police also got a copy of the identity card Kottathala used to check in to a lodge.
"There are three parts to the investigation. The first was to identify the person who called from the jewellery shop. We have conclusively identified him as Kottathala," said the inspector.
Then, Vipin Lal has been getting phone calls, too. "We have found that the calls were made from a SIM registered in Tamil Nadu. The SIM was not used for any other purpose," the officer said.
Vipin Lal approached the Bekal police in September when he started getting letters urging him to change his statement. The police have found that the letters were posted from Kochi. “We have leads which link the letters to Kottathala,” said Bekal inspector.
Police said the SIM from Tamil Nadu may not be a coincidence. In 2017 when Pulsar Suni was lodged in Kakkanad jail in Kochi, the police found that he used a phone reportedly stolen from Coimbatore.
Police suspect Kottathala could be part of a bigger conspiracy.Ganesh Kumar, the legislator representing Pathanapuram constituency, has close ties with Dileep, accused of being the conspirator in the actress abduction and assault case.
Ganesh Kumar, a leader of Kerala Congress (B) and member of the ruling LDF, called on Dileep on September 5, 2017, when the actor was lodged in Aluva sub-jail. After the visit, the MLA told reporters that he stood by Dileep.