'Find truth, not rely on suspicion': Kerala top cop to team on actress abduction case

Mumbai: Close on the heels of questioning of popular actor Dileep and his director friend Nadirshah in the actress abduction case, state police chief T P Senkumar has asked the probe team to find out the "truth" and not to rely on "suspicion."

Senkumar, who is retiring from the top post today, said he had given a direction in this regard to the investigators who are probing the sensational case.

"I have asked the entire team to find out the truth. The whole team should sit together, discuss and collect evidence and should not rely on suspicion," he told PTI.

The outgoing DGP's directive is widely seen as an expression of dissatisfaction over the way the case is being handled by the team headed by ADGP (South one) B Sandhya.

Bringing the sensational February 17 incident back to focus, the police had questioned Dileep, Nadirshah and the actor's manager in Kochi for 13 hours two days ago following some fresh 'leads' in the case.

The police recorded the trio's statements after the release of a letter, purportedly written by the prime accused in the case 'Pulsar' Suni addressing the actor discussing the abduction incident.

A complaint filed by Dileep alleging attempt to blackmail him by a friend of the accused had also surfaced earlier this week.

Seizing on the development of the case, senior Congress leader and MLA P T Thomas today reiterated his demand for a CBI enquiry into the incident.

He told reporters here that the alleged casting of suspicion on the probe team by DGP itself is a concrete reason to hand over the case to CBI for investigation.

"Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had stated the day after the incident itself that there was no conspiracy behind the crime. Besides that, the recent developments in the case also indicate that the state police will not be able to carry out a free and fair probe," he said.

Thomas also said that the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) failed to express solidarity with the victim during its annual general body meeting at Kochi yesterday.

He condemned the alleged outrage of two actor-turned MLAs, Mukesh (CPI-M) and Ganesh Kumar (LDF-backed independent) against media persons at a press conference after the AMMA meeting when the later repeatedly posed questions regarding the case. CPI(M) MP P K Sreemathi also came out against the AMMA, alleging that they did not stand with the victim.

"AMMA says it will stand by both the assaulted actress and the actor who is facing charges in connection with the incident. Is it not male chauvinism and anti-woman stand?" Sreemathi asked in a Facebook post.

A group of Congress activists staged a protest march in Kollam against actor-turned MLAs Mukesh and Ganesh Kumar and AMMA president and CPI(M) MP Innocent and burnt their effigies for allegedly not supporting the victim.

Meanwhile, Women in Cinema Collective, an outfit of women workers in the Malayalam film industry, has filed a complaint with the state Women's Commission to protect the rights of the victim.

The WCC expressed concern over the attempt from certain quarters to "victimise the victim" and said it had taken all measures to counter this.

The actress, who has worked in Tamil and Telugu films besides Malayalam, was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car for two hours by the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on February 17 night and later escaped in a busy area in Kochi.

Six persons, including 'Pulsar' Suni, Martin and Vigeesh were arrested in connection with the incident so far.