Malayalam film superstar Dileep, arrested on Monday in connection with the alleged conspiracy behind the abduction and assault of a leading South Indian actress in February, was on Tuesday sent to jail after a court remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days. Dileep would be given no special facilities at the Sub-Jail in Aluva, his hometown near Kochi, the police said.
The special team probing the conspiracy behind the attack on the actress had recorded the arrest of the popular actor late Monday evening about 12 hours after he was taken into custody. His bail application is likely to be considered by the Magistrate Court in Angamaly on Wednesday but the police have applied for getting him in their custody.
Dramatic scenes were witnessed at the residence of the Magistrate of the Angamaly court where hundreds of people had assembled and were booing Dileep and shouting slogans at him as he was brought there. Dileep, also a leading film producer and distributor, reportedly requested not to send him to jail and broke down when the magistrate ordered his remand.
AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Actors), which had till the other day defended him, on Tuesday removed him as its treasurer and cancelled his primary membership while the Kerala Film Producers’ Association, Film Employees Federation of Kerala and an exhibitors’ outfit he himself was leading also expelled him.
“I am being crucified. I was trapped. I have no fears as I have committed no wrong,” he told newsmen while he was being taken to the Sub-Jail in Aluva. However, the police, who charged him with criminal conspiracy in the actress attack case, said that they had collected several strong and irrefutable evidences against him.
The main charge against Dileep was that he had conspired with Sunil Kumar alias Pulsar Suni, a hoodlum with close links with him and the Kerala film industry, to abduct the young actress and torment her by physically and mentally offering him Rs 1.5 crore for the ‘quotation’. The conspiracy, according to the police, was hatched in two stages and the first stage was in 2013.
Dileep may also face even graver charges relating to the atrocities committed against the actress and legal experts said he could be awarded the same punishment Suni and his accomplices would face if found guilty. Dileep had allegedly given the ‘quotation’ to Suni directly for attacking the actress in order to take revenge for causing problems in his family life.
The actress was abducted and attacked by a gang headed by Suni on the night of February 17 inside a moving car in which she was travelling to Kochi from Thrissur in connection with the work on a film. Suni had allegedly attacked and abused her and video-graphed her in the awkward situation during the attack. They set her free near Kochi early next morning.
Dileep has presently been named as the eleventh accused in the case of attack on the actress but, according to sources, he could be made the second accused when the police submit the additional chargesheet in the court. The probe team had submitted the chargesheet against Suni, first accused, and others earlier.
The police got the first indications of Dileep’s alleged role in the conspiracy after Suni, who was arrested on February 23, wrote a letter to him from the jail where he was lodged asking for the money he was promised for assaulting the actress. Suni also made phone calls in this regard to Dileep’s friend actor Nadir Shah and his manager Appunni.
The special police team had questioned Dileep, Nadir Shah and Appunni for 13 hours on June 28 triggering speculations that the superstar could be taken into custody any time. However, Dileep’s lawyer K Ramkumar said on Tuesday that there were no evidences against him and whatever had been cited in the remand report were fabricated by the police.
Hundreds of people, majority of whom were his fans till the other day, shouted slogans against Dileep outside the magistrate’s house and the sub-jail. “He was the pride of Aluva. Now Aluva hates him,” said a former Dileep fan. “It is a typical case of the revelation of the real life villain within a reel life hero,” he added.