Kerala actress molestation: Cops raid lawyer's home

Kochi: The Special Investigation Team probing the abduction and sexual assault on an actor in Kochi raided the office and residence of Pratheesh Chacko, lawyer of the key accused in the case Sunil Kumar aka ‘Pulsar Suni,’ on Tuesday  in an attempt to recover the SIM card containing the images of the torture. A team led by K.G. Babu Kumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Aluva, carried out the raids at the lawyer’s office at Providence Road here and his residence at Chunagamveli near Aluva from 10.30 a.m. onwards.

“The exercise continued for two-and-a-half hours. Earlier,  Suni had told the investigation officers during  interrogation that he had handed over the SIM card used to record the sexual assault  to the lawyer,” sources said. However, the raids failed to yield any result though the cops had handed over the mobile phones found from there for scientific examination. Earlier, the police had seized Suni’s bag and clothes from the lawyer’s office and interrogated  Chako  last week after obtaining permission from the High Court. However, he said he was unaware of any SIM cards being handed over to him. The SIT has sought legal opinion to arraign the lawyer as an accused in the case for allegedly attempting to destroy or conceal evidence.