Not trying to protect MLA: DGP
LUCKNOW: Federal investigators will decide if legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar should be arrested for the alleged rape of a minor girl in Unnao, said a senior Uttar Pradesh government officer on Thursday after the lawmaker was formally charged in the case.
The state government announced the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will investigate the charges against Sengar, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party, after allegations that the state police had botched up.
“Nobody is defending him (Kuldeep Singh Sengar). All we are saying is that we have to hear both sides. Now that the case has been given to the CBI, they will decide on arrest,” said OP Singh, the state’s director general of police.
“If any evidence is found, the CBI will take a call if the accused has to be arrested or not,” Singh said at a press conference in Lucknow.
Arvind Kumar, principal secretary (home), said the Uttar Pradesh Police’s special investigation team will handle the case till the CBI takes over.
“The role of Unnao district police is also under scanner. SIT has been constituted to probe the case and collect evidence. The SIT team visited Unnao on Wednesday to record the statements of the victim as well the family members of Sengar,” he said.
Kumar said the girl went missing in June last year. “Acting on the complaint lodged by her mother, the police conducted raids in Auraiya district and recovered her.
She was produced before the court and her statement was recorded by judicial magistrate but she did not mention the name of the MLA. Two persons whom she had named were arrested,” he said.
“On August 17 last year, the victim submitted an application at the police station. Since the name of the MLA did not figure in her earlier statement, the police did not take any action against him. On April 3, the girl’s father was beaten up after which he succumbed to injuries. A case has been registered in this connection and four people, including the MLA’s brother, has been arrested,” the DGP said.
The role of the doctors posted in the hospital located in the district jail as well as the medical officers posted in the district hospital was probed by DIG, Prison as well as CMO. On the basis of their report two doctors had been suspended and disciplinary action had been taken against three doctors, the principal secretary, home, said.
The first information report against Sengar, who represents the Bangarmau constituency in the UP assembly, was registered at Makhi police station in Unnao under various sections of the Indian Penal Code as well as the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
The rape victim tried to set herself on fire outside chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence on Sunday, claiming inaction in the gang rape case. Later on Sunday, her father was picked up by police and allegedly roughed up by Atul Singh and his aides after which he died.
The incident triggered a political storm and public outrage in the state.