In a further setback to actor Dileep, an accused on bail in the actress abduction case, the Kerala High Court on Monday allowed to re-examine three and summon 5 new witnesses in the ongoing trial.

The plea to this effect was filed by the state against the trial court’s order rejecting its request to re-examine witnesses after film director Balachandra Kumar made fresh statements related to the case, early this month.

The court on Monday asked to see that the entire exercise of adducing additional evidence be concluded in 10 days.

Besides, it also directed the Director General of Prosecution to see that a new Special Public Prosecutor is deputed or some other alternative arrangement is made to conduct the case on behalf of prosecution and ensure that the examination of the witnesses and production of the documents is done within a period of 10 days.

Incidentally, the trial in the case suffered a jolt when the special public prosecutor relinquished his post and this was the second time that such a thing has happened and now with a fresh order, a new counsel is expected to take over.

Things when it appeared to go smoothly for Dileep in the trial, turned topsy turvy when Kumar made an appearance and spilled the beans when he said that Dileep soon after being released on bail saw the visuals which showed the beleaguered actress who was kidnapped being physically attacked by her tormentors, while she was abducted.

Until this time it was only the trial court which had seen this and by now Kumar who made this and more disclosures has testified before the police and also a magistrate.

And based on these disclosures, the police probe team registered a fresh case and Dileep sensing that he might be arrested sought anticipatory bail, which will be heard on Tuesday and the state informed the court last week, that until this is heard, they will not arrest the actor.

Dileep was arrested in 2017 and lodged in prison in a case related to a gang sexually assaulting a frontline heroine of South Indian movies and filming the scenes.

After two months in jail, he was released on bail.

Three persons, including a woman, died after a speeding truck hit a bike in Patna on Monday morning.

The deceased were identified as Rita Devi (55), Pankaj Raut (25) and Sudama Raut (15). All of them were returning on the bike from Gaurichak to their native place in Fatuha. The victims had gone to Gaurichak on Sunday evening to fix the marriage of Rita’s son.

The accident took place due to low visibility in the Aman Bigha village under Shahjahanpur located on state highway 78. The impact of the accident was such that the bike tossed in the air and fell around 30 meters away from the spot.

“We have sent the dead bodies for the postmortem in Nalanda Medical College and Hospital. The errant driver managed to escape from the spot. We are making efforts to arrest the accused,” said an official of the Shahjahanpur police station.

Following the incident, local villagers blocked the road for two hours, which led to huge traffic snarls on state highway 78.

A postgraduate student of IIT Bombay in Powai jumped off the 7th floor terrace of his hostel and ended his life, officials said here on Monday.

The victim, identified as Darshan Malviya from Madhya Pradesh was said to be battling depression for long and was under treatment.

In a purported suicide message penned on a board in his fourth-floor hostel room, he said nobody should be blamed for his act before jumping off the terrace around 4.30 a.m.

A security personnel on duty heard the loud thud and ran to investigate and found Malviya lying there in a pool of blood, and alerted the concerned hostel authorities and co-students.

They immediately rushed him to the government-run Rajawadi Hospital where he was pronounced dead and informed the Powai Police who lodged an accidental death report.

As per preliminary investigations, Malviya was suffering from depression prior to getting admission in IIT-B in mid-2021 and had been under treatment from inhouse and external experts and doctors.