Kochi, Feb 3: Actor Dileep on Thursday moved a fresh plea in the Kerala High Court opposing further investigation being carried out by the police in the sexual assault case of an actress, alleging that it was a "wilful attempt" to protract the trial in the matter.

The actor, in his plea filed through advocate Philip T Varghese, has contended that further investigation in the case was not permissible as a final report had been filed in November 2017, charges were framed in January 2020 and only one prosecution witness -- one of the investigating officers -- remained to be examined.

The petition alleges that under the guise of further investigation, "a series of vindictive acts" were being carried out by the police.

One instance of such acts was the allegedly false case foisted on the actor and other male members of his family accusing them of conspiring to murder police officers investigating the actress assault case, the petition claims.

It seeks quashing of the report, filed by the police in the trial court, allegedly containing the statement of filmmaker Balachandra Kumar and further proceedings pursuant to the same.

Kumar had recently made some startling revelations against Dileep in the actress assault case through the media.

He has also claimed that there is evidence including digital ones to prove that Dileep had influenced the witnesses.

The actor's latest plea also seeks a declaration that a further probe being carried out in the case was "illegal" and a direction to the trial court to "eschew" the same from the record.

The actress-victim, who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, was abducted and allegedly molested in her car for two hours by some of the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area. The entire act was filmed by some of the accused to blackmail the actress.

There are 10 accused in the case and police have arrested seven. Dileep was arrested subsequently and released on bail.

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Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker U T Khader on Wednesday sought an inquiry after a large number of Aadhaar cards were found on the banks of the Nethravathi River here.

The cards were found at Farangipete in Pudu village of his Mangaluru Assembly constituency.

Khader, in a note to the Project Manager of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Bengaluru, sought immediate intervention and necessary action against those responsible.

In the note dated March 4, he said that local residents noticed the Aadhaar cards along the riverbank on March 3.

Following information received from the public, the Pudu Gram Panchayat president and villagers collected the Aadhaar cards found scattered in the area. They subsequently brought the matter to his attention and the concerned authorities, he said.

Expressing concern over the incident, the Speaker has directed that a thorough investigation be conducted to ascertain how such a large number of Aadhaar cards ended up on the riverbank and to identify those responsible.

He instructed officials to initiate appropriate legal action through the concerned department at the earliest.