The Crime Branch (CB) probing the hatching of a conspiracy by actor Dileep and other accused to murder the investigation officers in the actor assault case on Tuesday informed the Kerala High Court that the forensic reports on the examination of the mobile phones of the accused had revealed that major part of the data with regard to the criminal conspiracy had been deleted from their mobile phones.
The submission was made in a statement filed by the Crime Branch in response to a petition by the actor and other accused seeking to quash the criminal case registered against them for allegedly conspiring to murder the investigation officers in the actor sexual assault case.
The statement pointed out that major extraction took place on January 29 and 30, 2022, after the Kerala High Court directed them to produce the phones before the Registrar General. It was very clear that Dileep had tampered with the evidence. It pointed out that vital evidence was obtained by the Crime Branch team against Dileep and others on analysis of the forensic reports.
The statement pointed out that the reports revealed that "detailed examination of the WhatsApp chats in the iPhone used by Dileep showed that the chats up to December 25, 2021, were available in the phone memory and many chats were found to be deleted. The examination of the iPhone showed that WhatsApp was configured to another device. On examination of another iPhone, it was revealed that 12 numbers of WhatsApp messages or conversations were seen cleared.
It was evident from the investigation conducted in this case so far that Dileep was the master brain behind the heinous crime. The allegations against the petitioner were serious. However, what was the extent of the criminal conspiracy or whether it was a tip of a larger conspiracy or whether any further steps had been taken by the accused for committing the offence in furtherance of their criminal conspiracy or whether the design or conspiracy to commit the offence was still persisting, were all matters to be unearthed by the investigation agency. The investigation was now only at its nascent stage, the Crime Branch informed the court.
