Summary:
Kochi, Mar 8 (PTI) The Crime Branch on Tuesday opposed in the Kerala High Court the plea moved by actor Dileep to quash the FIR accusing him and others of conspiring to kill and threaten officials probing the 2017 actress assault case, saying that his petition was a "bundle of lies and distorted facts".
In its statement, filed in response to the actor"s plea, the agency contended that materials collected so far by it indicates a "dangerous state of affairs" wherein the life of several senior police officers, who were investigating the 2017 case, was under threat.
In the statement, filed through senior government pleader and additional public prosecutor P Narayanan, the Crime Branch claims that director Balachandra Kumar was a witness to the alleged conspiracy hatched by the actor, his brother, brother-in-law and three others.
The agency also claims that the FIR was registered based on Kumar"s statements and the voice clips given by him to the police.
Dileep, in his plea filed through advocate Philip T Varghese, has sought quashing of the FIR or in the alternative to transfer the probe to the CBI, alleging that the registration of the latest case was "vindictive, ill motivated, pre-determined and malafide".
He also alleges that the investigation carried out so far in the case by officers of the Crime Branch was "highly tainted, biased, partisan, meaningless and dishonest." Denying the allegations, the Crime Branch contended that the case was being investigated properly and in accordance with law and hence, at this juncture, there was no legal justification to transfer the investigation to CBI.