Woman student faces arrest?

LUCKNOW: The 23-year-old woman, who has accused senior BJP leader and former Union minister Swami Chinamayanand of rape and blackmailing, faces arrest on charges of extortion.

The woman along with three others is an accused for attempting extortion from Chinmayanand. The other three accused-Sanjay Singh, Sachin Sengar and Vikram Singh-- have already been arrested by SIT on Friday, the same day when Chinmayanand was arrested.

Special Investigation Team (SIT) chief Naveen Arora, who is heading the investigations had on Friday said the woman and Sanjay Singh, accused of extortion, ‘were in constant touch and exchanged over 4200 calls this year’.

The case of extortion was lodged at Kotwali police station in Shahajahnpur on August 25 by Om Singh, lawyer of Swami Chinmayanand, on latter’s behalf.

“The girl has been charged with extortion. She along with three of her male friends Sachin Sengar, Shivam Singh and Vikaram Singh made extortion demand of ₹ 5 crore via a text message to Chinamayanand. SIT has arrested Sachin, Shivam and Vikram and they must also arrest the woman because she is also booked in the same sections,” said Om Singh.

SIT chief Naveen Arora refused to comment on the issue.

The woman is currently putting up at her home in Shahjahanpur.

She has not been interrogated by the SIT since Friday. She had earlier said that the case of extortion against her had been slapped to weaken her case against Chinamyanand.

The SIT was formed by the state government on the direction of the Supreme Court.

The matter came to light when the woman went missing on August 24, a day after she posted a video on the social media alleging that a “senior leader of the seer community” was harassing and threatening to kill her. She did not name Chinmayanand in the video.

The SIT initially started investigating the extortion case and the case of kidnapping lodged against Chinmayanand on the complaint of the woman’s father.

The SIT eventually booked Chinmyanand under Sections 376C (sexual intercourse by a person in authority), 354 D (stalking), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

The woman could not be reached for a comment.