An interesting question arises in the new Dileep case after his bail plea hearing on Saturday, January 22 in the Kerala High Court. Is the voice in the audio clips that surfaced recently and led to the case against him really Dileep’s? The voices – allegedly belonging to Dileep, his brother and Dileep’s brother-in-law – are heard talking about harming police officials who investigated the 2017 actor assault case, another case in which Dileep is an accused.
When the audio clips emerged and it was clear that a case would be filed against him, supporters of the actor claimed that these were fake. They said it is not the voice of Dileep and the whole story was born in the “imagination” of Baiju Paulose, DySP and investigating official in the actor assault case. Dileep’s lawyer Raman Pillai, however, said in the Kerala High Court on Saturday that “everything is on the basis of stories, not on the basis of any evidence” and added that “they could not get” Dileep in the other case, so they have filed this case to get him.
The other case he mentions is the actor assault, the trial in which case is not over yet. After making the claim, the advocate stated that the “story” about the conspiracy to kill police officials was “invented” to extend the trial. However, immediately afterward, he spoke of the conversation in the audio clip as “an outburst”.
In one of the audio clips, a voice, purportedly Dileep’s, is heard saying, “All five officials, you watch what you’re going to get.” His male relatives also allegedly made threats against the police officials, which were recorded in the audio clips.
“The only allegation is regarding a natural outburst, how one sometimes curses a person. That is all,” Raman Pillai said, and added, “Where is the offence? Is cursing someone an offence?”
The advocate did not openly deny that the voice in the clip is Dileep’s but merely called it an outburst by the actor and an act of cursing. However, the question of the authenticity of the audio clips has not been taken up for discussion at the court. The defence has neither stated explicitly that it is Dileep’s voice nor has it denied it. However, by calling it an outburst and curse, they seem to imply that the voice is Dileep’s.
The audio clips surfaced after director Balachandrakumar, a former friend of Dileep’s, released them to the media, along with a number of other recordings concerning the actor’s role in the assault case. The assault happened in February 2017 when the woman actor was travelling in a car in Kochi.
Watch: Why do we keep covering the Dileep case: Dhanya Rajendran