SIT quizzes BJP leader in Chinmayanand case

LUCKNOW: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sexual assault case against former Union minister Chinmayanand has questioned a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over two days, an official familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Shahjahanpur BJP leader DPS Rathore was quizzed over the complainant’s missing camerafitted spectacles, which the woman said she had used to record evidence of alleged sexual exploitation by the 72-year-old former MP. The official said that Rathore was also questioned in connection with the extortion case filed by Chinmayanand against the law student.

Rathore has denied any wrongdoing on his part. “I joined the investigation to clear some confusion. The person they were suspecting is not me. There is some other leader with the same initials,” he said.

The case hit the headlines when the 23-year-old complainant went missing on August 24 after posting a video on social media alleging that a “senior leader of the seer community” was harassing and threatening her. The woman did not name Chinmayanand in the video but after she went missing, her father blamed Chinmayanand for her disappearance. She was later traced to Rajasthan.

The Supreme Court took cognisance of the case and directed the Uttar Pradesh government to form an SIT to probe the matter under the Allahabad high court’s supervision.

On September 20, Chinmayanand was arrested under the Indian Penal Code Section 376-C (sexual intercourse by a person in authority), 354-D (stalking), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

The former MP’s lawyer filed a counter case of extortion against the complainant, alleging that she and her aides made an extortion demand of ₹5 crores. She was arrested on September 25.