As Kerala was stunned on Tuesday by the news of the arrest and jailing of superstar Dileep for the alleged conspiracy behind the attack on a leading actress, several CPI(M) leaders including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and many leftist and left-leaning film personalities were seen reversing publicly the positions they had adopted earlier with respect to the plot behind the assault and the actor’s alleged role in it.
Pinarayi, who had after the arrest on February 23 of Sunil Kumar, alias Pulsar Suni, head of the gang that had attacked the actress, allegedly stated that there was no conspiracy behind the incident, said on Tuesday, “What I said then was that the probe would continue. The priority at that point of time was not for going after the conspiracy.”
The Opposition had termed the earlier statement of Pinarayi, also holding the Home portfolio, as an indirect instruction to the police not to go after the conspiracy and conspirators. On Tuesday, he tried to defend himself and the police under him by saying, “The priority of the probe team has been to catch the culprits.”
State CPI(M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan tried to put up strong defence for Pinarayi. “The Chief Minister’s earlier statement on conspiracy was indeed appropriate. Otherwise, the culprits could have escaped,” he said.
law Minister AK Balan of the CPI(M) also came out with strong support for Pinarayi’s Home Department by stating that the Kerala Police had become a model for all the police forces in the country in handling conspiracy cases. “Nobody can save the accused (Dileep). No wrong-doer can escape law as far as the CPI(M)-led lDF Government is here,” he said.
The CPI(M)’s hectic efforts to justify itself and its Chief Minister over the actress attack case came amidst Opposition’s criticism that the Home Department was forced to allow the police to take action against Dileep after the demand for a CBI probe gained strength.
CPI(M) legislator M Mukesh and KB Ganesh Kumar, MlA of lDF’s outside ally Kerala Congress (B), both leading actors who had just two days back vociferously defended Dileep also were seen reversing their earlier positions and coming down heavily on the arrested superstar.
Mukesh, Marxist MlA from Kollam, said, “I was misled by Dileep’s own claims. He told me that he was innocent and I believed him like a brother. I am shocked. I have no suspicions about the police’s probe.” The actor-politician’s response came after Opposition outfits took out protest marches to his office in Kollam.
Ganesh Kumar MlA, who had defended the superstar the other day by saying that Dileep and the assaulted actress were both children of AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artists) made a 360-degree turn on Tuesday to say, “(I) have asked AMMA to take stern action against the person who has now been charged (with conspiracy) by the police.”