Hyderabad: The whereabouts of veteran actor Mohan Babu, facing attempt to murder charges in connection with an incident at his Jalpally township residence in Pahadi Shareef, remained ‘unknown’ on Friday.
The incident occurred on Tuesday when the actor allegedly attacked a reporter, who sustained severe injuries. The police have filed charges under BNS Section 109 against the actor. However, when police tried to contact him and asked him to cooperate with the investigation, the actor was not available, said a source.
The source added, “as part of the investigation, we were reaching out to the actor but we were told that he was not at home. We are trying to expedite the investigation towards which we are making efforts to locate him.”
The police are yet to record his statement.
Meanwhile, Mohan Babu has filed a petition in the High Court seeking anticipatory bail. However, the court clarified that no interim orders could be issued in the case involving the attack on a journalist. The court directed the police to file a counter affidavit before any further orders are passed. The next hearing has been posted for Thursday.
The case was registered by Pahadi Shareef police after the ‘victim’ filed a petition. Although the case was filed against the actor on Wednesday, police, after consulting legal advisors, added Section 109 (attempt to murder) of the BNS a day later.
The petition was heard by Justice K. Lakshman on Friday. During the hearing, the defence lawyer argued that several journalists entered Mohan Babu’s house all at once, which led to the altercation. The lawyer stated that the attack was accidental and not intentional.
Public prosecutor Jitender Rao clarified that the journalists had arrived at the invitation of Mohan Babu’s son Manoj. He further explained that the journalist was severely injured and he remains in hospital.
