The
Kerala
High
Court
will
continue
to
hear,
on
January
29
in
a
special
hearing,
a
plea
by
the
Crime
Branch
to
recover
the
mobile
phone
of
Malayalam
actor
Dileep
and
others
in
a
case
against
him
and
five
others
for
allegedly
threatening
officials
probing
the
sexual
assault
of
an
actress
in
2017.
Justice
Gopinath
P
said
the
court
will
hear
the
matter
in
detail
at
11
am
on
Saturday,
January
29,
after
the
actor's
counsel
sought
time
to
file
an
objection
against
the
Crime
Branch's
plea.
The
probe
agency
said
though
it
has
ample
power
to
seize
the
mobile
phones
that
were
concealed
and
removed
by
the
accused,
the
Crime
Branch
"felt
it
appropriate" that
the
matter
be
brought
to
the
notice
of
the
High
Court.
"It
appears
that
the
petitioners
have
purposefully
removed
their
mobile
phones
and
attempted
to
conceal
and
thereby
destroy
the
evidence
under
the
pretext
of
sending
it
to
examination,"
the
Crime
Branch
told
the
court.
Meanwhile,
Dileep's
counsel
argued
that
witch
hunting
was
happening
in
the
name
of
investigation
and
handing
over
the
phones
would
amount
to
violation
of
his
privacy.
The
court
said
it
cannot
direct
the
investigation
agency
on
how
to
move
forward
with
the
trial
in
the
case.
The
High
Court
had
on
Thursday,
January
27,
adjourned
till
February
2
the
hearing
in
the
anticipatory
bail
plea
moved
by
Dileep
in
a
case
against
him
and
five
others
for
allegedly
threatening
officials
probing
the
sexual
assault
case.
The
case
was
adjourned
considering
the
prosecution
submission
seeking
time
for
analysing
the
digital
evidence
in
connection
with
the
probe.
On
January
22,
the
court
had
granted
interim
protection
to
Dileep
from
arrest.
As
per
the
court's
directive,
Dileep
and
the
other
accused
had
appeared
before
the
investigating
officers
on
January
23,
24
and
25
for
interrogation.
The
accused
were
directed
to
fully
cooperate
with
the
investigation.
The
court
had
said
film
director
Balachandra
Kumar,
who
had
recently
made
some
startling
revelations
against
the
actor,
was
an
acquaintance
of
Dileep
and
has
submitted
some
relevant
material
to
the
Crime
Branch
which
led
to
the
registering
of
the
case.
Besides
Dileep,
his
younger
brother
P
Sivakumar
and
brother-in-law
T
N
Suraj
have
also
moved
the
court
seeking
the
same
relief.
On
January
9,
the
Crime
Branch
registered
the
case
on
a
complaint
filed
by
an
investigating
officer
based
on
a
purported
audio
clip
of
Dileep,
which
was
telecast
by
a
TV
channel,
in
which
the
actor
was
allegedly
heard
conspiring
to
attack
the
official.
The
actor
and
five
others
were
booked
under
various
provisions
of
the
Indian
Penal
Code,
including
Sections
116
(abetment),
118
(concealing
design
to
commit
offence),
120B
(criminal
conspiracy),
506
(criminal
intimidation),
and
34
(criminal
act
done
by
several
people).
This
apprehension
is
borne
out
of
the
past
conduct
of
the
complainant
officer
who
from
the
start
has
been
trying
to
falsely
implicate
the
actor
in
the
sexual
assault
case,
the
petition
alleged.
The
actress-victim
who
has
worked
in
Tamil,
Telugu
and
Malayalam
films
was
abducted
and
allegedly
molested
in
her
car
for
two
hours
by
some
of
the
accused,
who
had
forced
their
way
into
the
vehicle
on
the
night
of
February
17,
2017
and
later
escaped
in
a
busy
area.
The
entire
act
was
filmed
by
some
of
the
accused
to
blackmail
the
actress.
There
are
10
accused
in
the
case
and
police
arrested
seven.
Dileep
was
arrested
subsequently
and
released
on
bail.
For
women
in
distress
or
facing
harassment,
help
available
in
India
at
the
following
helpline
numbers:
Central
Social
Welfare
Board
-
Police
Helpline:
1091/
1291,
(011)
23317004;
Shakti
Shalini-
women's
shelter:
(011)
24373736/
24373737;
All
India
Women's
Conference:
10921/
(011)
23389680;
Joint
Women's
Programme:
(011)
24619821;
Sakshi-
violence
intervention
center:
(0124)
2562336/
5018873;
Nirmal
Niketan
(011)
27859158;
JAGORI
(011)
26692700;
Nari
Raksha
Samiti:
(011)
23973949;
RAHI
Recovering
and
Healing
from
Incest.
A
support
centre
for
women
survivors
of
child
sexual
abuse:
(011)
26238466/
26224042,
26227647.