Naval divers search for phone used by accused in actress case

A five-member team of Naval divers today launched a search in a lake here to recover the smartphone "dumped" into it by the key accused in the alleged molestation of a Malayalam actress.

The team was deputed by the Navy following a request by the police, probing the February 17 incident in which the actress was allegedly abducted and molested inside her car by the accused, a Naval official said.

Earlier, key accused 'Pulsar' Suni and one of his accomplices V P Vigeesh were taken to a bridge from where they had allegedly thrown the phone into the waters, police said.

The Special Investigation Team personnel were desperately searching for the phone allegedly used by the accused to take pictures of the actress during the two hours when they had held her captive.

The accused have told police that they "dumped" the phone, considered to be a key material evidence to tighten charges against them, in the lake during their run after police took up investigation into the incident.

The actress, who has starred in Tamil and Telugu films, was allegedly abducted and molested inside her car for two hours by the accused after they forced their way into the vehicle.

Later they escaped in a busy area here.

So far, six persons have been arrested in connection with the incident, which sent shock waves and drew widespread condemnation with calls for stern action against the culprits.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)