Chinmayanand case: SIT to submit chargesheet today
Ex-Union minister, woman, BJP leader DPS Rathore and his aide Ajeet Kumar have been named
LUCKNOW :The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has prepared the chargesheet against former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand and the woman, who accused him of rape, sexual harassment and extortion. In a new development, the probe suggested Shahjahanpur BJP leader and Shahjahanpur district cooperative bank chairman DPS Rathore also tried to extort Rs 12.5 million from Chinmayanand.
The SIT has also named DPS Rathore and his aide Ajeet Kumar—brother-in- law of one of the accused in the extortion case— for allegedly attempting to extort Rs. 12.5 million from Chinmayanand. The SIT has prepared a 4700-page charge sheet in both cases and will submit it to the Allahabad high court on Wednesday, said SIT chief Naveen Arora.
Rathore, the younger brother of a BJP leader, and Ajeet have been charged under Sections 385 (extortion), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
Arora told journalists in Shahjahanpur that DPS Rathore and Ajeet were in Dausa (in Rajasthan) on August 30 when the Shahjahanpur police recovered the woman. “Rathore and Ajeet were present in Dausa and they procured the evidence (videos) from the woman. Later, they realised that the woman and friends did not have any evidence and they also tried to extort Rs 12.5 million from Chinmayanand,” said Arora. The SIT has yet not arrested them but included their name in the chargesheet.
Rathore and Ajeet told the woman and her friend Sanjay to hand over all evidence (pen drive) to them so that the same would be kept safe or else police might take away all the evidence, said the SIT head. The SIT recorded statements of 105 people and added 24 physical evidence, 55 documentary evidence in the chargesheet that will be submitted on Wednesday. The SIT has concluded the probe and will file a final status report on November 28.
NO TAMPERING WITH ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE
The forensic labs suggested that all the electronic evidence was not tampered with. The video clips featuring Chinmayanand and the woman were also original and voice samples also confirmed their authenticity. “We traced the WhatsApp number from which the extortion message was sent to Chinmayanand. That number was installed by Sanjay. We recovered the message as well as the screenshots. This is sufficient to book them under IT Act,” he added.
CAMERA FITTED SPECTACLES MISSING
The SIT probe suggested that the evidence from woman’s hostel room was removed by her and Sanjay Kumar—one of the accused in the extortion case. “It is believed that pair of spectacles was also taken away by them. They took away every small thing from the room then how could they leave such important evidence behind,” Arora added.
Two reports would be submitted to the government. One was regarding the police functioning in the case and other was about lapses on the part of college administration, added SIT head.
HC TO HEAR WOMAN’S BAIL PLEA ON NOV 6
The Allahabad high court will hear the bail plea of the woman on November 6. It will hear Chinmayanand’s bail plea on November 8.
The woman was arrested on
September 25. Along with three other men Sajnay, Vikram and Sachin, she was booked under Sections 35 (criminal act done with a criminal knowledge or intention), 201 (disappearance of evidence), 385 (extortion) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
Chinmayanand, who was arrested on September 20, was booked under Sections 376C (sexual intercourse by a person or persons taking advantage of their official position), 354 D (stalking), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. Five days after his arrest, the BJP said Chinmayanand was no longer with the party. The woman had gone missing on August 24, a day after she posted a video on social media, alleging that a ‘senior leader of the saint community’ was harassing and threatening to kill her.