The approver in the actress assault case has filed a petition in the Kerala High Court after a trial court ordered his arrest and wants to produce him for witness cross-examination.
According to a leading Malayalam daily, Vipin Lal, the approver in the case, told the HC that the trial court verdict was against the code of criminal procedure and it was not maintainable. Lal also informed the court that he was suffering from tuberculosis and fallen ill in jail.
The court ordered Lal to appear before them on January 21, however, he informed them that he could not appear as there was a threat to his life.
Earlier, Lal filed a complaint with Bekal police after facing threats to alter his statements in favour of the accused in the case. Bekal police arrested MLA KB Ganesh Kumar’s office secretary Pradeep Kumar Kottathala last year. According to reports, Pradeep tried to influence Vipin into turning hostile in the actress assault case. In January last year, Pradeep visited a Kasaragod jewellery shop where Vipin’s uncle worked. Through this uncle, Pradeep got in touch with Vipin’s mother, asking the approver to turn hostile. He demanded that Vipin must give a statement in support of actor Dileep an accused in this case. Vipin refused to give in to Pradeep’s demand.
Subsequently, in September last year, Vipin started receiving threats letters and calls which led to Vipin filing a complaint with the police. After the case was filed, police started going through the jewellery shop’s CCTV footage. Through the CCTV footage, the police identified Pradeep and a report was filed which pointed out that Pradeep had tried to persuade Vipin to turn hostile in the case.
Meanwhile, on January 29, the trial court will be issuing its verdict on the petition filed to cancel the bail of actor Dileep for tempting the witness in the case.
