Actor Manju Warrier has once again given her statement in a case related to Kerala actor Bhavana's sexual assault in 2017. Reports say that Manju reached a hotel in Ernakulam on April 22 afternoon to give her statement to the Crime Branch, which is investigating a case of conspiracy to kill police officers who were investigating the sexual assault of Bhavana. Actor Dileep, who is Manju Warrier's ex husband, is accused of masterminding the sexual assault, and the prime accused in the conspiracy case.
The Crime Branch is investigating the conspiracy case which was filed earlier this year after new revelations regarding Dileep came out last November. He and five other men are accused of conspiring to kill police officials who investigated the actor assault case. Crime Branch Superintendent of Police MP Mohanachandran Nair is heading the investigation. Visuals showed him in conversation with Manju Warrier at the hotel lobby on Friday after the actor gave her statement for a second time. Manju Warrier who had earlier given her statements as a witness in the actor assault case, also reportedly identified voice samples in the new conspiracy case as belonging to Dileep and the other accused men. She was reportedly called to give her statements in this regard on April 22.
Weeks ago, cyber expert Sai Shankar, another accused in the conspiracy case, alleged that Dileep’s advocate had asked him to remove a large amount of data from the actor’s phones. In an interview to TNM, Sai Shankar said that though he had covered up the data as they asked, he would be able to retrieve it for the police. Reports suggest that chats between Manju and Dileep are among the files that have been retrieved by Sai Shankar.
In another development, S Sreejith, IPS officer who had earlier headed the investigation against Dileep, has been transferred from the Crime Branch to be Transport Commissioner. This comes with a series of transfers among senior officials in the force. However, Dileep’s advocates had claimed that Sreejith created false evidence for the conspiracy case and that it would in turn affect the trial of the actor assault case.
On Friday, April 22, the Crime Branch moved court to cancel the bail given to Dileep in the actor assault case, on the finding that he has been trying to influence witnesses in the case and tamper with the evidence.
(Note: TNM has used Bhavana's name with her consent.)