Chinmayanand held for rape
TROUBLE MOUNTS Former Union minister also booked for stalking, wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation
SHAHJAHANPUR: The special investigation team probing rape allegations against BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand says the former minister has accepted to taking massage from the complainant but hasn’t confessed to raping her yet. The revelation was made by SIT chief Naveen Arora hours after the BJP leader’s arrest from his Shahjahanpur residence on Friday morning.
Chinmayanand was taken to Shahjahanpur district jail on Friday afternoon and is said to be lodged in the jail hospital. He was accused of rape by a 23-year old woman who studied law at a college run by the BJP leader’s trust.
“Swami has confessed that he did get himself massaged by the woman,” said SIT chief Naveen Arora.
Swami Chinmayanand expressed remorse after his arrest. “Main apne kia kritya se sharminda hun (I am ashamed of my deeds), Swami Chinmayanand said when we asked him about the allegations made by the woman against him,” SIT chief Naveen Arora told reporters
Arora added the woman and Chi nmayanand ha d also exchanged phone calls and spoken around 200 times since January 1 this year. “We have sent Swami’s mobile phone to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to recover data from it,” said Arora.
Swami Chinmayanand has been booked under section 376 C (sexual intercourse by a person in authority), 354 D (stalking), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) according to the SIT.
The SIT has also arrested three other people in the case of extortion filed by Chinmayanand. The woman who accused Chinamaya
NAVEEN ARORA , SIT chief
nand of rape is also an accused in the extortion case and was in constant touch with Sanjay Singh, said police.
Sanjay Singh, Sachin Singh and Vikram, who were arrested today, are accused of sending a message to Chinmayanand demanding Rs five crore and threatening him with the release of objectionable videos, Arora said.
“The woman was in constant touch with accused Sanjay Singh. The duo exchanged 4200 calls since January 1 this year,” Arora said and added, “We are yet to recover the phone used by the woman and Sanjay. Once recovered, phones will be sent for forensic examination.”
The entire scandal came to light when the woman went missing on August 24, a day after she posted a video on the social media alleging a “senior leader of the seer community” was harassing and threatening to kill her. She did not name Chinmayanand in the video.
Her father was the first to name Chinmayanand. The Supreme Court stepped in after media reports about her disappearance. The woman was found by police in Rajasthan a week later and produced before the Supreme Court, which ordered the Yogi Adityanath government to set up the special police team.
The top court also asked the Allahabad High Court to track the police probe.
Chinmayanand’s arrest comes after the police questioned more than 30 people over the last few days including classmates of the woman.
The interrogations had started on September 8, a day after the woman returned to Uttar Pradesh. The woman, her father, mother and brother were quizzed by SIT officials inside the auditorium of Shahjahanpur police lines.
On the first day, the woman and her father were quizzed for over 11 hours. Since then the SIT quizzed the woman on five different occasions till date, said a second police officer.
Chinmayanand was questioned for eight hours on September 12. His lawyer Om Singh says they had been interrogated by the special investigation team twice.
Some employees of colleges run by Chinamayanand’s trust have also been quizzed by them,” Singh said.
Immediately after the woman went missing, Chinmayanand’s lawyer Om Singh registered a case of extortion and threat on his behalf.
However on September 7, the woman lodged a complaint of rape at a police station in New Delhi which was later transferred to the SIT which is believed to have included the section of rape in the FIR against Chinmayanand.
On Monday, the woman recorded her statement before the magistrate after her medical examination was done.
The SIT team has interrogated at least 30 people, including Chinmayanand and the complainant since September 8.
Main apne kia kritya se sharminda hun (I am ashamed of my deeds), Swami Chinmayanand said when we asked him about the allegations made by the woman against him.