Malayalam actress sexual assault case: Kerala HC dismisses actor Dileep's plea for CBI probe
Kochi, Dec 19: The Kerala High Court Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by noted Malayalam actor Dileep, an accused in the case of abduction and sexual assault of an actress in February 2017, seeking a CBI probe into the case.
Dismissing the plea, Justice Sunil Thomas observed that the allegations levelled by the actor need to be proved during trial in the sessions court.
Police have investigated the case and filed the charge sheet. The trial of the case is going on, the court said and pointed out that no materials have been placed before it to warrant a CBI investigation.
In his petition, Dileep alleged that the Special Investigation Team of Kerala police had carried out a "sham, unfair, biased, motivated and partisan investigation" in the case.
He alleged that the SIT accepted as the "gospel truth", false charges and fabricated lies provided by the accused persons arrested in connection with executing the crime.
The actor submitted that the truth can be brought out through an investigation by an independent agency, which is not controlled by the state police.
The prosecution opposed the plea, alleging that the actor was adopting delaying tactics.
Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017 and let out on bail on October 3 after 85 days in custody. The Kerala High Court had granted him bail with stringent conditions.
Seven persons, including key accused 'Pulsar' Suni, were arrested in connection with the actress abduction case.
The actress, who has worked in Tamil and Telugu films, was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car for two hours by the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area.
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Chhattisgarh coal levy scam: Rs 4 crore assets of suspended IAS officer attached
Raipur (PTI): The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has attached properties of Rs 4 crore belonging to suspended IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, an accused in a coal levy scam, for allegedly amassing assets beyond his known sources of income, officials said.
The EOW had registered a disproportionate assets case against Vishnoi in July 2024, an official release said on Saturday.
During the investigation, the agency identified nine immovable properties, valued at around Rs 4 crore, allegedly acquired through illicit means in the names of Vishnoi’s family members and associated firms, it said.
“An application seeking attachment of these properties was filed before the Special Court under the Prevention of Corruption Act in Raipur. Following a hearing on April 17, the court ordered attachment of all such properties,” the statement said.
Accordingly, the Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offences Wing attached the properties. The attached properties cannot be sold or transferred, it said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier provisionally attached five immovable properties linked to Vishnoi in connection with the coal levy scam, it added.
Proceedings are also underway in cases involving other public servants, including action taken in September last year against properties linked to Saumya Chaurasia, who was deputy secretary in the chief minister’s office during the Congress government, the statement said.
Vishnoi, a 2009-batch Indian Administrative Service officer, was first arrested in 2022 by the ED in connection with the alleged coal levy scam. He was among several accused who were granted bail last year by the Supreme Court.
The case refers to an alleged Rs 540 crore racket between July 2020 and June 2022, when an illegal levy of Rs 25 per tonne was being extorted by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen for every tonne of coal transported in the state.
