Kerala actress molestation: Dilip alleges key accused blackmailed him for money

The case of molestation of a top female actor in Kochi, in February, took a bizarre turn on Saturday after popular actor Dileep confirmed that a prison-mate of Sunilkumar aka Pulsar Suni, the key accused, demanded money from him to not name him as a conspirator.

A man, identified as Vishnu, is learnt to have telephoned Dileep’s friend and actor-director Nadirsha demanding Rs 1.5 crore. Vishnu said that in return, Dileep would not be named as a conspirator; according to a police complaint filed by Dileep on April 20. Meanwhile, Malayalam television channels released copies of a letter Suni allegedly wrote to Dileep from prison, seeking payment for completing “the job” assigned to him.

The actress was molested in a moving car in Kochi on the night of February 17. Reports that Suni and his associates were hired had placed under the scanner Dileep who had an alleged professional rift with the actress. “He (Vishnu) told me that though Dileep is innocent, they would name him unless paid. He said top names in the industry including actors, actresses and producers wanted Dileep framed and were ready to pay more,” Nadirsha told reporters.

He passed the recorded phone conversation to Dileep who submitted his complaint along with the audio clip as evidence, to the then state police chief Loknath Behera. Nadirsha, however, said he did not believe that the industry names mentioned were involved in the conspiracy.

Dileep has repeatedly stated that he’s being targeted by a group of people who wanted to destroy his career. “They always start something like this whenever a film of mine is set to release,” the actor told a television channel.

As part of a police probe into the conspiracy angle, ADGP (South Zone) B Sandhya had on Thursday recorded the actress’ statement again. Dileep said the new phase of the police investigation was based on evidence he submitted.

On the night of the incident, the 30-year-old actress was intercepted by Suni and his associates near Angamaly. After entering the actress’ car, the men took control of the vehicle; Suni molested her and took revealing photographs during a two-hour drive in the city. The incident had led to an outrage in the state over women’s safety issues and doubled as trigger for a woman professionals’ collective in the film industry.