Victim’s uncle demands arrest of block pramukh, two others

LUCKNOW: In a fresh development in the Unnao rape and murder cases, the teenage rape victim’s uncle wrote to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday, demanding the arrest of Nawabganj (Unnao) block pramukh Arun Singh and two other aides of the main accused, BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar. He voiced fears that the trio might influence the probe and try and damage the evidences.

In a letter addressed to the head of CBI Lucknow, the complainant alleged that Arun Singh and two others, Vinod Mishra and Santosh, were involved in the murder of the victim’s father, said a senior CBI official.

The victim’s uncle also said that the block pramukh, along with Mishra and Santosh, could make witnesses turn hostile and damage crucial evidences, if they were not arrested immediately.

He said they were involved in the conspiracy against his family that resulted in his niece’s kidnapping and rape in July, 2017 and the attack on her father on April 3, 2018, which resulted in his death a few days later.

The complainant further alleged that the block pramukh threatened a local journalist, Virendra

Yadav, who had tried to help his family by featuring news against Sengar on his television channel, last year. He said the journalist was also threatened while he tried to help the victim’s father as he was being taken to the Unnao district hospital after suffering serious injuries in an attack by the BJP MLA’s brother Atul Singh Sengar and his aides.

So far, around 10 people, including the BJP MLA, his brother and two policemen of Makhi station who were allegedly involved in framing the victim’s father in a fake case concerning illegal firearms have been arrested in the matter.

The matter first came into limelight when the victim and other women of her family tried immolating themselves near the chief minister’s residence in Lucknow on April 8, 2018, demanding action against Sengar and his aides.

ACTION DEMANDED AGAINST FORMER SPS

In another complaint, the victim’s uncle has demanded action against two former superintendents of police of Unnao, alleging that they connived with the accused BJP MLA in the entire matter.

The complainant said that CBI investigators should retrieve June 2017 call records of the then SP of Unnao Neha Pandey, Nawabganj block pramukh Arun Singh and other accused to establish their connivance in the initial non registration of FIR concerning his niece’s kidnapping and rape. He has also accused former SP Unnao Pusphanjali Devi of acting on the behest of the accused BJP MLA when the victim’s father was attacked on April 3, and sending him to jail in a fake case without ensuring proper medical treatment for him.