The police have filed an application in the Special Court trying the actor rape case to cancel the bail of actor Dileep, the eighth accused in the case.
The police accused Dileep of trying to influence witnesses in the case and destroy the evidence from his mobile phones. The application was filed in view of the ‘‘fresh evidence unearthed regarding the conspiracy hatched by Dileep to bodily harm some police officers investigating the rape case’’.
The day witnessed the trial court expressing its displeasure over the alleged leaking of information related to the investigation in the case to the media. As the court was considering the application to cancel the bail plea, the news was flashed on some TV channels. The court recorded the developments as Philip T. Varghese, counsel for Dileep, brought the issue to the notice of the court.
Directive to ADGP
Earlier, the court asked the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) to file an explanation on the case as it found that the explanation submitted by Baiju Poulose, the investigation officer in the rape case, was unsatisfactory. The court had sought a report from Mr. Poulose on how the application seeking the court’s permission to interrogate the court staff was aired by a TV channel.
In his explanation, Mr. Poulose submitted that the petition was not in his exclusive possession. He had claimed that he had given the scanned copy of the petition to the office of the Advocate General. However, the officer casually stated that the copy of the application was sent to the office of the Advocate General and the details of whom the application was entrusted with were absent in the report, the court noted.
The court noted that the investigation officer evasively reported that others also had the opportunity to access the document. Despite the directive of the court to keep the confidentiality of the investigation considering the fact that an in-camera trial was going on, it appeared that the investigation officer admitted the fact that the copies of documents were either circulated or broadcast in the media, the judge noted.
Since the report filed by the investigation officer appeared to be an evasive and incomplete one, the ADGP (Crime Branch) who is leading the investigation team should file a report on the developments before April 18, the court ordered.
