Yet again, another witness in the Kerala actor assault case, accused of being masterminded by actor Dileep, has changed stand in court. Actor Bindu Panicker who was examined by the trial court on Monday did not repeat the statements that she had told to the investigation officers.
Bindu Panicker was a witness who was aware of Dileep meeting prime accused Pulsar Suni at Hotel Abad Plaza in Kochi in 2013. According to the police chargesheet, this is the place where Dileep first hatched the conspiracy to target the actor. The allegation is that Dileep wanted Pulsar Suni to sexually assault the actor and capture it on video. Bindu Panicker was also a witness who was apparently aware of the relationship between Dileep and Kavya then. In court on Monday, Bindu Panicker turned hostile.
“She said she didn't know anything and said nothing further,” a lawyer who was in court told TNM.
With this, Bindu Panicker become the second witness in the case to turn hostile, out of the 40 witnesses questioned till now. Earlier, actor Edavela Babu, who is also the General Secretary of AMMA had changed his statement.
Whereas, actor Kunjacko Boban, the 39th witness in the case, deposed for the witness examination on Monday, and repeated the statements he gave to police.
Actor Dileep is accused to have masterminded the assault on the survivor actor to take personal revenge against her for disclosing his relationship with another actor Kavya Madhavan (his present wife) to actor Manju Warrier (his former wife).
Meanwhile in a setback to accused actor Dileep, the Kerala High Court on Monday rejected his plea that a separate trial should be conducted in the case where Pulsar Suni, who abducted and assaulted the survivor, allegedly threatened Dileep. Dileep has approached the High Court asking that he should be considered a victim in the case and so the trial cannot be conducted along with the actor assault case.
Pulsar Suni, the prime accused in the case who is accused of abducting and assaulting the survivor actor, is accused of threatening Dileep and asking for money. Investigation officers in the case had found that Pulsar Suni had contacted Dileep while being in jail, it is following this that Dileep alleged that Suni called him to threaten and ask for money.