A special investigation team (SIT) of Haryana police has charged three Karnal-based lawyers with allegedly masterminding an extortion racket in the name of settling rape accusations.
The racket was unearthed after KK MIshra, additional director general of police (ADGP), crime against women, ordered an inquiry in May.
While one of the accused, Jaipal Singh, was arrested by the SIT on late Wednesday evening, four other accused, including advocates Harish Arya, Deepak Mohan and women touts Suman and Neelam were absconding.
Arya, who runs a voluntary organisation -- Fight for Justice Club of India, claim to work for the oppressed class, particularly the victims of crime against women.
Arya had recently organised a function at a 4-star hotel here in which he had honoured Karnal police officials, including SP, DSP and members of the crime investigating agency (CIA) for rescuing an affluent businessman Ketan Sardana from kidnappers.
Meanwhile, Ramesh Chaudhary, brother-in-law of Jaipal Singh, was also arrested for attacking the SIT in Karnal.
After producing Jaipal in a local court on Thursday afternoon, informing about the case, inspector Virender Singh, SIT member, said a rape case was registered at city police station in Karnal on April 14 this year.
“A 22-year-old woman from Ambala had charged one Ramesh Kumar for raping her, but later retracted from her statement. While Ramesh was granted bail, the case is still pending in a local court,” said Singh, adding that later the woman appeared before ADGP KK Mishra and narrated how she was forced to withdraw her accusations by the lawyers in lieu of money.
“A 22-year-old woman from Ambala had charged one Ramesh Kumar for raping her, but later retracted from her statement. While Ramesh was granted bail, the case is still pending in a local court,” said Singh, adding that later the woman appeared before ADGP KK Mishra and narrated how she was forced to withdraw her accusations by the lawyers in lieu of money.
“She named three lawyers and two women of trapping her in the racket to which the victim-complainant was not a party,” said Singh, adding that the victim, a serious kidney patient from a poor Dalit community, was approached by the gang and was introduced to Ramesh as a job aspirant.
“She was ‘sexually abused’ in Karnal. Then the accused lawyers helped her in lodging a rape case against Ramesh. Later, these lawyers forced her to retract from the statement and promised to pay her Rs 21 lakh as share of the money which they would extract from Ramesh for settling the case,” said Singh, adding that the complainant, however, did not get any money.
Singh said that the investigations were being monitored directly by ADGP KK Mishra and the SIT had enough evidences in the case. He said SIT even had clues about similar such modus operandi in Karnal and adjoining districts.
Meanwhile, Abhishek Garg, superintendent of police, Karnal said that two similar cases were under investigations where individuals furnished certain evidences to prove that they were framed in false rape cases. “But name of the three lawyers named in the present case has not emerged in other complaints,” said Garg.