india

Updated: Nov 03, 2019 15:27 IST

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sexual assault case against former Union Minister Chinmayanand, has been questioning a local BJP leader since Saturday evening in Shahjahanpur for his suspected role in an extortion bid, a probe official said Sunday.

According to the official who did not want to be named, the probe so far has suggested that the BJP leader, who is also the chairman of a district level cooperative bank, allegedly helped the girl gather video evidence against Chinmayanand initially.

The SIT maintains that the woman and her friends had sent an extortion message of Rs 5 crore to Chinmayanand on the basis of those obscene videos.

“It seems he helped the girl and three others in an extortion bid,” the official said.

The official said the SIT is questioning the BJP leader about a pair of missing spectacles of the woman who accused Chinmayanand of rape. The woman had claimed that the spectacles were fitted with a camera that she used to shoot video clips of Chinmayanand.

The woman had also alleged the BJP leader was present in Dausa along with his aide on August 30 when Shahjahanpur police traced her to Rajasthan on August 30.

She had also alleged that his aide snatched away a pendrive containing evidence against Chinmayanand, from her. The SIT had earlier questioned his aide and other two BJP workers in this connection.

On Friday, the SIT had questioned the woman’s father and recovered her bag and books from a blocked drain on Saturday. The SIT has been looking for the spectacles fitted with cameras. After recovering the bag sans spectacles, the SIT called the BJP leader for questioning. Later Saturday night, cops seized a laptop from his house.

The Allahabad High Court has listed the bail plea of the woman for November 6. It will hear Chinmayanand’s bail plea on November 8. There are reports that SIT plans to file a chargesheet against the woman before November 6.

The SIT had told court that the woman was with three other men on August 22, when a message seeking Rs. 5 crore was sent to Chinmayanand.

The SIT is also waiting for the report of Chinmayanand’s voice sample test.

The woman was arrested on September 25. Along with three other men, she was booked under Sections 35 (criminal act done with a criminal knowledge or intention), 201 (disappearance of evidence), 385 (extortion) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.

Chinmayanand, who was arrested on September 20, was booked under Sections 376C (sexual intercourse by a person or persons taking advantage of their official position), 354 D (stalking), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. Five days after his arrest, the BJP said Chinmayanand was no longer with the party.

The woman had gone missing on August 24, a day after she posted a video on social media, alleging that a “senior leader of the sant community” was harassing and threatening to kill her. Following which, woman’s father lodged a complaint, accusing Chinmayanand of kidnapping and harassing his daughter.