Chinmayanand was arrested in September (File)

Former Union Minister Chinmayanand, who is accused by a law student of rape, on Monday sent a letter to the police demanding the woman should be charged under the stringent Gangster Act.

The student, 23, was arrested last month by a special investigation team (SIT) on allegation of extortion.

The SIT had said the law student and her three friends -- Sanjay, Sachin and Vikram -- demanded Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand, threatening to upload video clips showing him getting massages from her on the Internet.

An official of Shahjahanpur district jail, where Chinmayanand is lodged since he was arrested on September 20, said the former Union Minister gave him the letter and it was sent to the superintendent of the police.

Chinamayanand's lawyer also filed a petition in the court of the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) for charging the law student and her three friends with the Gangster Act.

"A petition has been filed in the court of CJM Omveer Singh stating that the Gangster Act should also be slapped on the four accused persons, including the woman, for extortion," Chinmayanand's advocate Pooja Singh told PTI.

"In the application, it is also said that the court should send the case to a special court for hearing under the Gangster Act," she said.

After hearing the application, the court reserved its order, Ms Singh said.

According to the petition, Sachin came to meet Chinmayanand at his residence on August 9. Sachin told Chinmayanand that he had all evidence with him and if the former Union minister did not pay Rs 5 crore then a false case would be lodged against him.

Chinmayanand has been booked under section 376C of the Indian Penal Code (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".