Malayalam actor Dileep, who was arrested for the alleged abduction and sexual assault of a female colleague in February, moved the Kerala High Court on Thursday seeking bail for the second time, PTI reported. The Kerala High Court had rejected his earlier bail petition on July 24. He is currently in judicial custody till August 22.

In his bail application, Dileep claimed that he was neither the kingpin of the criminal conspiracy nor a participant, but only “the unfortunate victim of an orchestrated media campaign”. He also claimed that he had never seen nor talked to Pulsar Suni – the woman’s former driver and the prime accused in the case – and only knew him by name.

Dileep also alleged that “a section of the film industry and certain others who could manage the police, media and political leaders” had hatched a conspiracy against him “to spread utter falsehood and malicious stories”.

The actor further said that he was seeking bail as his continued detention was not only unjust but was also delaying the shooting and release of movies and affecting several others.

Dileep was arrested on July 10 after the police had found Pulsar Suni’s photograph at one of his shooting locations. On February 17, a group of men had allegedly waylaid the woman’s vehicle in Ernakulam’s Angamaly. They then reportedly took photos of her as they harassed her and fled with the car when they reached Palarivattom.

The actor’s manager AS Sunilra alias Appunni had surrendered before the Kerala Police on July 31 in connection with the case.