Kottayam-based businessman Mehboob Abdullah told the media on Saturday, January 15, that he is not the ‘VIP’ rumoured to be involved in the Kerala actor assault case. He said he had no knowledge or involvement in the case, after rumours emerged on social media connecting his name to actor Dileep, who is accused of being the mastermind behind the crime. Mehboob said that all he had with Dileep was a business relationship.
In a recent bout of revelations concerning the crime, Dileep’s former friend director Balachandrakumar spoke about the involvement of a ‘VIP’ who helped the actor get visuals of the assault. Balachandrakumar, who said that he was present during discussions about the assault amid Dileep and others, claimed that he didn’t know who the ‘VIP’ that they kept referring to was.
Among the possible names that cropped up as the VIP was Mehboob’s. However, Mehboob said that his only connection to Dileep was a partnership to launch a branch of the actor’s restaurant Dhe Puttu in Qatar. Mehboob said that he had earlier backed out of such a partnership when it was proposed in Dubai because of the developments in the actor assault case when Dileep was named an accused and got arrested.
Watch: Mehboob speaks to media
However, when Dileep later came out on bail, Mehboob said his friends – Mushtaq and Lijesh – were interested in the Qatar project and he joined them. Mehboob visited Dileep’s house three years ago for the purpose and met the actor and his wife Kavya. He said he had not seen Balachandrakumar or Dileep’s brother or brother-in-law – the latter two having been named by the director as involved in the crime.
A fresh case was filed against Dileep after Balachandrakumar released audio recordings allegedly containing voices of the actor and others plotting to murder police officials who investigated the actor assault case. Dileep’s anticipatory bail for the case will be heard on Tuesday, January 18.