Shahjahanpur (UP): The Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has decided to withdraw a rape and kidnapping case against former Union minister Chinmayanand, official sources said here today.

A letter in this regard has been sent to the district administration on March 6 on behalf of the government, the sources said. Subsequently, the Shahjahanpur administration had on March 9 written to the prosecution officer of the case for its withdrawal.

On the other hand, the woman who accused the former minister of rape has sent letters to the president and the district judge raising objections over the move, urging them to immediately issue a warrant against the accused.

Additional district magistrate (administration) Sarvesh Dixit said the state government has decided to withdraw case filed against Chinmayanad in the Kotwali police station under Sections 376 and 506 of the IPC, and the process for the same has been initiated by the prosecution officials.

The victim, in her letter, also said that Adityanath, on a visit to Shahjahanpur, had lunch at the house of the accused on February 25, 2018.

The FIR against the former minister was lodged in November 30, 2011, on the complaint of a girl who had spent several years at his ashram.

The girl had alleged she was kept at an ashram in Haridwar and raped by the former minister. Her father had lodged an FIR against him at Kotwali police station in Shahjahanpur.

However, Chinmayanand moved the high court, which had stayed his arrest. The case has been pending since then.