Chinmayanand extortion case: Law student sent to judicial custody, family alleges 'manhandling' by SIT

The woman was taken away by the police from her home, alleges the family. They also said that the police dragged the law student out of her house 'almost by force' and without her slippers.
The woman law student who accused BJP leader Chinmayanand of sexual misconduct and harassment being taken to the court after she was taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on charges of alleged extortion and blackmail in Shahjahanpur T
The woman law student who accused BJP leader Chinmayanand of sexual misconduct and harassment being taken to the court after she was taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on charges of alleged extortion and blackmail in Shahjahanpur T

LUCKNOW: In a major development, the LLM student, 23, who had accused former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand of rape and harassment, has been arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing into the matter. 

The LLM student was taken into custody at 8:30 on Wednesday morning on the charges of an alleged extortion bid of Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand. After her arrest, the SIT took the girl straightaway to Chowk Kotwali and then to a district hospital for her medical examination.

Later the SIT produced the girl in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate as the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) was on leave. The court ordered 14-day judicial remand for the girl and asked the SIT to send her to jail.

Earlier while confirming her arrest, UP DGP OP Singh said, "The law student who had accused Swami Chinmayanand of sexually harassing her has been arrested by the SIT for allegedly trying to extort money from him.”

However, the family members of the girl claimed that the SIT was quite ruthless while taking her into custody from her residence.

As per the version of one of her relatives, she was allegedly dragged out of her house by the women police accompanying the SIT. 

“She was not even allowed to put her slippers on and use the toilet,” said a relative.

Even more, the relatives claimed that the girl was not served arrest notice under Section 141 CrPC before being taken into custody. They said she was made to sign it at the Chowk police station only.

The SIT had even attempted to detain the girl on Tuesday while she was on her way to the court of Additional District Judge to apply for her anticipatory bail in an extortion case. 

The court admitted her plea and posted the matter for September 26 asking the SIT to produce all relevant documents related to the case. Later, the SIT allegedly took the girl home in its car and grilled her there for several hours.

It may be recalled that after the LLM student accused Swami Chinmayanand of rape and harassment by posting a video on her Facebook wall on August 24, another video went viral on social media where she was seen discussing the extortion bid with her friends.

Even Swami Chinmayanand’s lawyer Om Singh had filed an FIR against unidentified persons for sending the Swami a text message seeking to blackmail him by asking for Rs 5 crore failing which they threatened that they would tarnish his image by releasing certain videos on social media.

Notably, three of her aides – Sanjay Singh, Sachin Sengar and Vikram Singh-- are already in jail in connection with the extortion case. The student, on Tuesday, had applied for anticipatory bail in the court of Additional District Judge (ADJ) which had admitted her plea and had posted the matter for September 26 for the next hearing.

The SIT had already taken two of the three extortion accused --– Vikram Singh and Sachin Sengar—on remand of 95 hours for interrogation.

Swami Chinmayanand was arrested by the SIT on Friday and the court had remanded him to 14-day judicial remand.

Currently, the former Union minister is admitted to PGI Lucknow for treatment after he had complained of chest pain on Monday. 
 

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