Hemant Katare Hemant Katare

MORE THAN a week after a journalism student was arrested for blackmail and extortion, police on Friday booked Congress MLA Hemant Katare for alleged rape and illegal confinement of the student. The 21-year-old student of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism is currently lodged in Bhopal jail from where she sent a written complaint against the MLA.

Katare, the son of former Leader of Opposition Satyadev Katare, had lodged a complaint against the student, alleging that she had demanded Rs 2 crore through an accomplice for not circulating alleged intimate videos of the two. The MLA admitted that he knew her but said he had no relations with her. When she continued to harass him, he alleged, he struck a deal for Rs 5 lakh and informed the police who caught her from the parking lot of a hotel in Bhopal’s M P Nagar locality.

After her arrest, a video went viral in which the student claimed that the allegations she levelled against the MLA were false and it was just a joke. Her mother alleged that her daughter had been framed. The MLA never came forward but offered his defence through a video, saying he was innocent. The student, whose bail was to be heard in court on Friday, managed to send a written complaint through jail superintendent in which she accused the MLA of rape. DIG (Bhopal) Dharmendra Chaudhary said the student had sent a written complaint from jail accusing Katare of rape and abduction. He said the police sought permission from court on Friday to allow them to record the complainant’s statement in jail.

However, the court did not consider the application. The court also rejected the student’s bail plea on Friday. Her advocate moved the sessions court for bail and the plea is likely to be heard on Saturday. Refuting the allegation that the police were acting with bias against the Congress MLA, Chaudhary said the student was arrested on Katare’s complaint and has now levelled allegations against him. “We will investigate the case and depending on evidence we will take a call on his arrest,” he said.

The police have so far not been able to arrest Vikramjit Singh, the student’s alleged accomplice who went missing after her arrest. Chaudhary said the police were looking for him. Katare had not deposited his phone with the crime branch despite reminders. After the Crime Branch served a notice on him, he finally deposited his phone.

Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh called the FIR against Katare a conspiracy hatched with political malice. Demanding a high-level probe, Singh said the FIR against the MLA nine days after the student’s arrest smacked of conspiracy. The Congress has alleged that Vikramjit Singh was closely associated with BJP leaders in Bhopal and was a small-time office-bearer.

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