- Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Following the denial of anticipatory bail by Kerala high court, the police had conducted searches at the actor’s residences in Kochi and Aluva. But they were locked.
By: Shajil Kumar
MALAYALAM film actor Sidhique whose anticipatory bail plea in a rape case was dismissed by Kerala High Court on Tuesday, is yet to be nabbed by the police.
Sidhique’s whereabouts are not known and the police have launched a manhunt.
The actor was reportedly in Kochi, but left the city following the court decision. He abandoned his own vehicle and left the hotel in a friend’s car, Mathrubhumi.com reports.
Following the court verdict the police had on Tuesday morning conducted searches at the actor’s residences in Kochi and Aluva. Both the houses were locked and his phone has been switched off.
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea saying that in view of the seriousness of the accusations he was facing, his custodial interrogation was inevitable for proper investigation.
Justice C S Dias said that since Sidhique’s defence was “a total denial of the incident”, his potency test was yet to be conducted and there being a “reasonable apprehension” that he may intimidate witnesses and tamper with evidence, “it was not a fit case to exercise the discretionary powers of the court” to grant him the relief.
Sidhique, who was booked for offences under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation), had claimed in his plea that the complainant female actor, had subjected him to a “prolonged campaign of harassment and false accusations since 2019”.
Dileep case
Interestingly when actor Dileep was seeking anticipatory bail in a case involving the assault of an actress, the police had stationed themselves outside his house and arrested him immediately after the court denied him bail.
Actress welcomes court decision
Earlier the woman actor who has accused Sidhique of rape had welcomed the court’s dismissal of his anticipatory bail plea.
The woman also said that going forward she expects she will get justice in the case. “I am super happy with the verdict. I see it as a positive light,” she said.
Flays SIT
She, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which the probe was being carried out by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), saying that it did not maintain the confidentiality of the information regarding the matter.
She claimed that the SIT did not show the required sensitivity in the matter as minute details of her case were leaked to the media.
“So, I am dissatisfied with the SIT in that regard. I have sent a complaint to the DGP highlighting this aspect,” she told reporters after the Kerala High Court dismissed the actor’s anticipatory bail plea.
The woman alleged that the accused actor was given time by the SIT to destroy the electronic evidence in his possession.
He also had the time to influence or threaten the witnesses in the case, she said.
