Kollam/Kozhikode: Police on Tuesday raided the residences of K B Ganesh Kumar MLA and his former personal assistant Pradeep Kumar Kottathala on a day that also saw the latter getting conditional bail.
A joint team of Bekal and local police officers raided Ganesh’s residence in Pathanapuram to seize a mobile phone and sim card used by Pradeep, who was arrested last week for threatening a witness in the actress assault and molestation case. Vipin Lal, a Bekal native who had turned approver in the case, had filed a complaint with police alleging intimidation over phone and through letters.
The raid at the Pathanapuram MLA’s residence failed to unearth the evidence sought by the team. Ganesh had sacked Pradeep following his arrest on November 24.
Conditional bail for Pradeep
In granting bail to Pradeep, the Hosdurg judicial first class magistrate court directed him to report before the investigation officer twice a month and barred him from entering Bakel police station limits, except for compliance of bail conditions. The court also warned him against trying to intimidate or influence witnesses.
The prosecution argued that the accused would try to influence witnesses if released on bail. Pradeep’s counsel, meanwhile, told the court that the case was part of a conspiracy by top police officials and that the threatening letters claimed to have been received by Lal were forged.
Police had not been able to take the accused to Kollam while he was in police custody for four days till Sunday to gather crucial evidence, including the sim card and phone which are suspected to have been used by Pradeep to call a relative of Lal on January 28.
Police, had, during the investigation found that the sim card was procured from Tirunelveli and its tower location was traced to Pathanapuram where the mobile number of Pradeep could also be traced to during the time of the call. According to police, Pradeep refused to cooperate with the interrogation and has said that he discarded the phone and sim card while travelling in a train.
Eerie silence over raid
Ganesh and his Kerala Congress (B), meanwhile, seem to playing it safe by not airing their ire over the raid. There are allegations that Pradeep was acting at the behest of the state legislator to influence Lal to issue a statement before court in favour of actor Dileep, the eighth accused in the assault case.