Kochi: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the abduction and sexual assault of a female actor seems to be still in the dark about the role of actor Dileep in the incident even 24 hours after subjecting him to a marathon interrogation.
The probe team also remained undecided on whether to register a first information report (FIR) on his complaint about the alleged attempt to blackmail him. Sources familiar with the investigation, however, have not ruled summoning him again. They said the police had not given him a clean chit so far. The SIT remained tight-lipped even as speculations were rife about their next course of action.
The CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s comment on Thursday about Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijay-an’s statement ruling out a conspiracy also triggered a fresh round of speculations.
On registering an FIR on Dileep’s complaint, police officials said lack of clarity in it is one of the reasons holding them back. They said statements they collected during the interrogation need to be examined before proceeding further. A.V. George, the superintendent of police (Ernakulam Rural), told reporters that “few more aspects of the allegation must be analysed’’.
He, however, declined elaborate. The focus now is on the alleged criminal conspiracy behind the abduction, he said.
“We are probing all angles of the case including the 120 (b) as well as the complaint by Dileep,” he said. The SIT had interrogated Dileep and his actor-director friend Nadirsha for almost 13 hours at the Aluva Police Club on Wednesday.
Apart from the two, his aide Appunni also gave his statement. Dileep iterated that he had been summoned to give a statement on his complaint of a blackmailing bid.
Sunil Kumar aka Pulsar Suni, the prime accused in the case, meanwhile, has appro-ached the district prison authorities with a request seeking to change his counsel.
The application will be forwarded to the appropriate authority for consideration. Jail authorities also ruled out the reports that he made the phone call from inside the prison. An internal probe has ruled out the possibility.
