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Regular-article-logo Tuesday, 23 April 2024

Chinmayanand case: Law student sent to 14-day judicial custody in extortion case

Anoop Trivedi, the student's counsel, said he has moved a bail application, which will be heard later in the day

PTI Published 25.09.19, 05:48 AM
The student at a court in Shahjahanpur on Tuesday

The student at a court in Shahjahanpur on Tuesday (PTI picture)

The 23-year-old student who accused BJP leader Chinmayanand of rape was arrested on Wednesday on charges of extortion and sent to 14 days judicial custody, police said.

She was arrested around 9.15 am from her home by the Special Investigation Team of Uttar Pradesh police amid massive deployment of forces, sources said.

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Roads leading to the residence of the student were blocked from both sides before policemen entered the house to arrest her, they said.

She was then taken for a medical examination. She was then produced before the court of additional chief judicial magistrate Vineet Kumar, officials said, adding that the court sent her to 14 days of judicial custody.

Three other accused in the extortion case – Sanjay, Sandip and Vikram – were arrested by the SIT on Friday, the day Chinmayanand was arrested.

Anoop Trivedi, the student's counsel, said he has moved a bail application, which will be heard later in the day.

The student's father and brother said she has not committed any crime but still she has been arrested. Her father also alleged that a police official was taking 'a very soft stand' on the complaint against Chinmayanand.

The student has alleged that she was raped and physically exploited for over a year by Chinmayanand, who was arrested last week and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.

Chinmayanand's own bail application was on Monday rejected by Shahjahanpur chief judicial magistrate, who said the plea should be moved in the sessions court, according to the BJP leader's counsel Om Singh. The court had also rejected the bail application of three men who were arrested on extortion charges filed by the BJP leader. The law student was also booked under the same charge.

On Monday, Chinmayanand was admitted to Lucknow's Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, after he complained of chest pain. He remains there under observation.

On the same day, the Allahabad High Court had refused to grant interim bail to the student and directed her to file a fresh petition before an appropriate bench.

'This bench was nominated to the case only for monitoring the investigation in this matter and has no jurisdiction to pass an order on stay of arrest,' it said.

Sachin Sengar and Vikram – two of the three men arrested earlier in the extortion case – have been kept on remand for 95 hours to help trace the mobile phone used in the extortion bid.

The police have also sent the Om Singh's mobile phone for forensic examination as the message demanding money was allegedly received on it, sources said.

Chinmayanand, sent to judicial custody after his arrest, was booked under section 376C of the IPC, which is usually applied in cases where a person abuses his position to 'induce or seduce' a woman under his charge to have 'sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape.'

This is a lesser charge than section 376, under which a rape convict faces a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. The punishment under section 376C is between five and 10 years in jail.

He was also booked under sections 354 D (stalking), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

The woman had claimed that the police were trying to weaken the case against the politician from the ruling party. However, the Allahabad high court had expressed satisfaction with the progress report submitted by SIT.

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