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Law student, who accused Chinmayanand of rape, arrested for extortion

Special Investigating Team of Uttar Pradesh Police arrested law student who had accused BJP leader Chinmayanand of rape on charges of blackmailing and trying to extort Rs 5 crore from him.

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Law student, who accused Chinmayanand of rape

The Special Investigating Team (SIT) of Uttar Pradesh Police today – Wednesday, Sep 25 – arrested the 23-year-old law student who had accused BJP leader and former union minister Chinmayanand of raping her on charges of blackmailing and trying to extort Rs 5 crore from him.

The girl was arrested her from her residence after a brief interrogation. Her family alleged that the SIT arrived this morning and “forcibly dragged her” out of their home. She was later taken for a medical examination.

Chinamayanand, booked under IPC sections 354 D (stalking), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation), was arrested last week. He had reportedly expressed shame at his conduct. He has been in hospital since Sunday after two days in prison.

The law student had filed an anticipatory bail petition in a local court in Shahjahanpur. Admitting the petition, the court on Tuesday, the court had asked the SIT to file its response to the plea. It had fixed the next date of hearing for Thursday, September 26.

“Anticipatory bail application was filed by the girl in the court of District Judge and it was heard by Additional District and Session Judge Sudhir Kumar, who was today holding the charge of the district judge. The court directed SIT to file its reply with documents related to the case. Without giving any interim protection, the court has fixed September 26 for the next hearing on the application,” said Anuj Kumar, District Government Counsel, Shahjahanpur, according to media reports.

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The SIT went ahead with her arrest before the hearing.

“They (SIT) had come to our residence and questioned my sister on her involvement in the extortion case. They asked her how she knew the three men who have been arrested and who hatched the plan to send a message to Chinmayanand to extort Rs 5 crore from him,” ThePrint reported the student’s brother as saying.

“My sister, however, maintained her stand that she was not involved in this at all,” he added.

Chinmayanand’s lawyers had filed a case of extortion attempt against unidentified persons after the 23-year-old, who studied in a law college in Shahjahanpur, run by a trust of Chinmayanand, accused the BJP leader of sexual harassment in a video clip. The student has alleged she was raped and physically exploited for over a year.

Chinmayanand’s lawyers had alleged that a WhatsApp message demanding Rs 5 crore was received on the mobile phone of the BJP leader. The message, they alleged, threatened to make some video clips viral if the amount was not paid.

Three persons, allegedly directly associated with her, were arrested on charges of sending extortion messages to Chinmayanand demanding Rs 5 crore from him. They were identified as Sanjay Singh, Sachin Sengar and Vikram alias Durgesh. The police said all three had confessed to making the extortion calls.

Police have booked he student on the same charge. SIT chief Naveen Arora was quoted in media reports as saying they had “prima facie” found the “involvement” of the law student in the extortion case. While observing that investigation in the matter was still on, he said further action would be taken after the recovery of the mobile phones of the law student and her friend Sanjay Singh, who is the key accused in the extortion case, and other footage.

The SIT was reported as having said that phone call records and digital evidence, including a video and CCTV footage, suggested that the law student too was part of the conspiracy hatched by the three men to extort money from the BJP leader. The student was also seen in a video in which the three men can be seen discussing the extortion attempt, the SIT alleged.

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The student had, however, denied these allegations stating that it was an attempt to weaken the case of sexual assault against Chinmayanand. “I do not know if the people who helped me escape from Chinmayanand were using me. I have nothing to do with the extortion case. I think all this drama is being done to dilute my charges of rape,” the law student was reported to have said.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh court has rejected the bail application of BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand, who was arrested in a sexual-assault case. He had during the interrogation on Friday reportedly confessed to having called the law student for “massages” while saying that he was ashamed of his act.

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Manipur: Congress hits back at BJP chief Nadda’s letter to Kharge

Ramesh emphasised that Nadda’s letter is replete with inaccuracies and reiterated that the people of Manipur long for normalcy, peace, and harmony.

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The Congress on Friday lashed out at BJP president JP Nadda’s accusations that the Opposition party was promoting a politically motivated narrative concerning the situation in Manipur.

The grand old party described Nadda’s letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge as a 4D exercise, which means denial, distortion, distraction, and defamation.

Nadda, responding to Kharge’s call for President Droupadi Murmu’s intervention and his claims of the Centre’s total failure in managing the crisis, claimed that the consequences of Congress’s “abject failure” in handling local issues in Manipur during its governance are still being felt today.

Responding to Nadda, Congress General Secretary for Communications Jairam Ramesh stated, “Congress President Kharge ji wrote to the President of India on Manipur. Apparently, to counter that letter, the BJP President has now written to the Congress President.”

Ramesh emphasised that Nadda’s letter is replete with inaccuracies and reiterated that the people of Manipur long for normalcy, peace, and harmony.

He noted that they are posed with four critical questions: When will the Prime Minister visit the state? How much longer will the Chief Minister remain in office despite lacking majority support? When will a full-time Governor be appointed? And when will the Union Home Minister be held accountable for his failures in Manipur?

Nadda expressed astonishment at the Congress’s ongoing efforts to sensationalize the situation in Manipur, pointing out that Kharge appeared to overlook the fact that his party’s past government had legitimized the illegal migration of foreign militants to India, during which former Home Minister P Chidambaram had signed relevant treaties.

On Tuesday, Kharge had written to President Murmu regarding the worsening conditions in Manipur, requesting her immediate intervention to ensure that the citizens of the state can live peacefully and with dignity.

In his two-page letter, Kharge accused both the Union and Manipur state governments of “completely failing” to restore peace and normalcy over the past 18 months, resulting in a loss of public confidence in their leadership.

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Rahul Gandhi is right, Gautam Adani should be arrested: RJD president Lalu Yadav

“Rahul Gandhi is right. Adani should be arrested,” said Prasad, who is an old ally of the Congress and a staunch opponent of the BJP, to which Adani is said to be close.

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RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday spoke in support of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s demand for immediate arrest of Gautam Adani, after the Industrialist was charged in the US for alleged bribery and fraud.

Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said on Thursday that Gautam Adani should be arrested immediately, and his protector Madhabi Puri Buch should be investigated

The former Congress chief claimed that the recent developments vindicate his long-standing allegations against Gautam Adani. He took a sharp dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alleged that Modi is protecting Adani, and is also involved in corruption. 

Yadav, the former chief minister of Bihar, was responding to queries from journalists here about Gandhi’s statement on the previous day, in the backdrop of charges of bribery and fraud against the Adani group in the US.

“Rahul Gandhi is right. Adani should be arrested,” said Prasad, who is an old ally of the Congress and a staunch opponent of the BJP, to which Adani is said to be close.

The RJD supremo, who incidentally has been convicted in several fodder scam cases and is on bail, was also asked about prospects of the INDIA bloc, of which his party is a part, in Jharkhand, where the counting of votes for assembly polls is scheduled on Saturday.

Speaking to PTI, the ailing septuagenarian replied, “I would like to remain focused on my statement that Adani must be arrested. I am not worried much about a new government (in Jharkhand) where we are already in power.” Jharkhand witnessed a straight battle between the INDIA bloc and the BJP-led NDA, which included the JD(U) headed by Nitish Kumar, Prasad’s arch-rival and the current Chief Minister of Bihar.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Gandhi further said that Chief Ministers have been jailed for scams of Rs 10-15 crore, but Adani, who has committed a scam of Rs 2000 crore is walking free.

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Cash for votes row: BJP leader Vinod Tawde sends legal notice to Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, asks them to apologise or face defamation

The BJP leader said the allegations against him were false, baseless and made with malafide intentions.

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Cash for votes row: BJP leader Vinod Tawde sends legal notice to Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, asks them to apologise or face defamation

BJP leader Vinod Tawde, accused of distributing cash to influence voters, has sent a legal notice to Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Supriya Shrinate and Rahul Gandhi over the controversy. The BJP leader has demanded their apologies or face a Rs 100-crore defamation case.

Vinod Tawde’s legal notice came after regional party Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) leader Hitendra Thakur on Tuesday accused him of distributing Rs 5 crore at a hotel in Virar in Palghar district, 60 km from Mumbai, to woo voters.

In the legal notice, the BJP leader said the allegations against him were false, baseless and made with malafide intentions. He claimed that he demanded an apology from the three Congress leaders for their remarks against him in the cash-for-votes row or he would be forced to initiate criminal proceedings against them.

Just a few hours before the Assembly Elections, a video went viral on Tuesday showing BVA workers storming into the hotel in Palghar during a meeting between Vinod Tawde and Rajan Naik, the BJP candidate from the Nalasopara seat. The BVA workers alleged that Tawde was caught red-handed with Rs 5 crore cash.

In the viral video, the BVA workers were seen taking out bundles of cash from a bag, while Tawde was sitting at a distance. The BVA workers also took pictures and videos of him on their phones. Amid these allegations, BVA leaders said that Rs 5 crore cash was distributed, an election official on Tuesday said Rs 9.93 lakh cash was recovered from the hotel rooms.

However, Vinod Tawde denied the allegation, saying he was only providing guidance to party workers on poll procedures and said he was not stupid enough to distribute money at his opponent’s hotel. Speaking to the media, he said that the Vivanta Hotel is owned by the Thakurs, and he is not stupid to go to their hotel and distribute money there.

The Police registered two FIRs against Tawde, BJP candidate Naik and others in connection with the controversy. Additionally, the Election Commission filed three FIRs against Tawde.

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