25-year-old alleges rape in car near a mall in Saket

We asked her to come on Tuesday to record her statement before a magistrate. But she has sought time to appear before the court.

A 25-year-old woman from southeast Delhi was allegedly drugged and raped by a man inside a car parked at a parking lot near a shopping mall in south Delhi’s Saket on Monday. The suspect, who had introduced himself to the woman as Sonu Singh, is absconding.

Police said the woman had met Sonu on a social networking site. Sonu allegedly befriended her after frequently chatting with her on the social media site. He tricked the woman into meeting him at a five star hotel in south Delhi after offering her his assistance in getting a job.

“After she met him at the hotel, Sonu took her for a ride in his car. On the way, he allegedly offered her a spiked drink.The two reached outside a shopping mall in Saket. When the woman started feeling dizzy, Sonu parked the car in a parking lot and forced himself on her,” said a police officer, quoting the woman’s complaint.

Sonu then dropped her somewhere in southeast Delhi area and fled, the officer said.

When the woman regained consciousness, she approached the police and filed a complaint. She explained to the cops how she met Sonu and where he had called her for a job interview.

“We registered a case of drugging and rape on the woman’s statement. We asked her come on Tuesday to record her statement before a magistrate. But she has sought time to appear before the court,” said the officer.

Investigators have sought details of Sonu’s social media account from the woman. They are also scanning CCTV cameras footage from near the parking lot where the woman has alleged that she was raped.

“We are trying to track him down using his social media profile details,” the officer added.

The woman has told police that she recently completed a vocational course from a private institute after her graduation and was looking for a job.

The Congress on Tuesday played down the significance of the BJP’s gambit, stating it had made a Dalit president 15 years ago. “We don’t want to comment on his personality, but will talk on merit. This is a fact that he is a hardcore BJP leader. How can one support a hardcore BJP leader? This seems a little impossible,” Azad told ANI, adding that a decision will be taken with consensus.

Opposition parties will meet on Thursday to finalise their stand but the NDA move appeared to have flummoxed many of them. Senior JD(U) leaders will also meet on Wednesday but chief minister Nitish Kumar set the tone on Monday, expressing “happiness” over Kovind’s candidature.

BSP supremo Mayawati has declared that she will support Kovind if the opposition grouping doesn’t field a Dalit candidate.

BJP ally Shiv Sena also said on Tuesday it will vote for Kovind, swelling the ruling alliance’s already staggering votes.

Other constituents of the NDA have endorsed Kovind’s candidature and while some non-NDA parties such as the YSR Congress, the TRS and a section of the AIADMK too have pledged support.

Meanwhile, a comment Kovind had made as BJP spokesperson in 2010 returned to haunt him.

“Islam and Christianity are alien to the nation,” he had said at a press conference, while demanding that the Justice Ranganath Misra commission, which had recommended inclusion of Muslim and Christian converts among Dalits, be scrapped. At least three senior BJP leaders refused to comment on it, saying they had not heard of it.

Kovind reached Delhi on Monday night and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

The department has said these alleged benami assets bear a “deed” value of about Rs 9.32 crore but the taxman has estimated their current market value at Rs 170-180 crore.

In Patna, Tejashwi told reporters that “all these rumours are spread because of political vendetta and political conspiracies” and dismissed the charges as “unsubstantiated allegations.”

The order has also identified firms like Ms Mishail Packers and Printers Private Limited, AB Exports Pvt Ltd, Delight Marketing Pvt Ltd and A K Infosystem Pvt Ltd as the ‘benamidars’ in this case.

The department has been investigating the case for quite sometime now and had carried out country-wide searches last month against those who had a role or were linked with the purchase and sale of these assets.

Bharti and her husband Shailesh were also summoned by the department for questioning in this case in the past but the couple skipped the dates.

Official sources said they are expected to be summoned again before more assets in this case are attached similarly.

Benami properties are those in which the real beneficiary is not the one in whose name (benamidar) the property has been purchased.The department will now move for confiscating these assets after getting approval from the Adjudicating Authority of the Act. The Act allows for prosecution of the beneficial owner, the benamidar, the abettor and the inducer to benami transactions.

The action under this Act is over and above the normal tax evasion probe and prosecution that the department will undertake against the accused under the Income Tax Act, 1961 for charges of tax evasion. the culprits. The role of the autorickshaw driver is also being probed as he too is visible on the surveillance video.

Gurgaon police commissioner Sandeep Khirwar said: “Noida police have taken a very proactive approach in helping the victim and in investigating the matter. We will work in tandem to probe the matter and arrest the accused.”

However, Gurgaon police ruled out the abduction.

“It was found that the victim was not taken forcibly by the accused and as such the case of rape has been registered in Greater Noida where the crime took place. We will assist Noida police in investigating the matter and help nab the culprits,” said Sumit Kuhar, DCP (Crime), Gurgaon.