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Day on, staffer retracts allegation against former Uttarakhand min
The complainant’s statement was recorded before the judicial magistrate on Wednesday under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1973 in which he backtracked on the charges he had levelled in the first registration report (FIR) registered at Jwalapur police station on Tuesday evening.
Two days after former Uttarakhand minister and expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vinod Arya was booked on the charges of attempting to sexually assault and murder his staffer, in Haridwar city, the complainant retracted his allegations, a senior police official in the know of the matter said on Thursday.
Arya was expelled from the party in September this year after his son Pulkit Arya, along with two others, was arrested in connection with the murder of a 19-year-old woman, who used to work as a receptionist at their resort in Rishikesh.
The complainant’s statement was recorded before the judicial magistrate on Wednesday under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1973 in which he backtracked on the charges he had levelled in the first registration report (FIR) registered at Jwalapur police station on Tuesday evening.
A senior police official requesting not to be named said: “The victim backtracked on his allegations while recording his statement before the magistrate but our investigation is on and we are trying to collect other evidence in the case.”
When contacted, the complainant refused to comment on the development.
Jwalapur police station in-charge RK Saklani said: “The accused’s statement was recorded before the magistrate on Wednesday but…. to maintain the confidentiality of the statement as per the law, it can’t be disclosed.”
The 25-year-old complainant, who is a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, was working as a driver for Vinod Arya, said the police.
In his complaint, based on which the FIR was filed on Tuesday, the complainant had accused Arya of attempting to sexually assault and murder him.
Following the complaint, the former minister was called to the Jwalapur police station on Wednesday and questioned for several hours, another police official said.
The incident took place on November 20 and the driver filed a police complaint at Jwalapur police station, in Haridwar on December 2. However, the driver alleged that the police “did not act” on his complaint, following which he sent a written complaint to the Haridwar office of senior superintendent of police (SSP).
“A probe has started into the matter,” said Haridwar SSP Ajai Singh.
The complainant was quoted in the FIR as saying: “I was hired by former state minister Vinod Arya on November 12 this year at a salary of ₹10,000 per month via a website. Arya also facilitated a room for my stay at his residence in Haridwar’s Arya Nagar”.
“Arya would often call me for a massage in the evening and touch me inappropriately,” the complaint read.
The complainant alleged that the former minister also tried to force himself on him.“On November 20 around 10.30pm, Arya first asked me to get clean shaved...later he touched my face. Once I started giving him a massage, he tried to have unnatural sex with me. When I resisted, Arya said he was pulling a prank on me”.
The complainant alleged that as he refused Arya’s advances, the latter tried to get him killed, said police.
“The next day, I drove Arya along with his son Pulkit’s lawyer to meet Pulkit in the jail near Devprayag where he is lodged. I dropped the lawyer and Arya at the jail. Before leaving, Arya informed me that we both will be stay at a hotel,” the complaint read.
The complainant said that, he however left for his home town after dropping the minister, where unidentified people tried to murder him, said police.
“I parked the car outside the jail and left for my native place in Saharanpur. I reached my home around 6 pm. When I went to the market to buy the groceries, three bike-borne men collided their vehicle with my bike intentionally to hurt me. I suffered injuries on my head and my arm got fractured. I was taken to a health facility in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh. I filed a police complaint in this regard at Jwalapur police stationon November 24,” the complaint read.
“ On November 25, I received a phone call from Arya who asked me to meet him,” the complainant said, adding, that he refused to meet him.
“Again on December 2, I received multiple calls from Arya asking to meet him. Around 4.30 pm, I went to Arya’s house in Arya Nagar. During the meeting, Arya made me sign on a blank paper and asked me for a picture, and subsequently threw me out of the house,” the complaint read. He further alleged that Arya assaulted him at his house with a fork.
“Arya also attacked me with a fork and threatened to kill me if I ever come to his house. After this, I gave a complaint to Jwalapur police station but they did not act on it, following which I wrote to Haridwar SSP’s office.”
The SSP said based on his complaint a case has been registered against Vinod Arya.
“The FIR into the matter was registered at Jwalapur police station on Tuesday evening under Sections 377 (unnatural sex), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 307 (attempt to murder), of the Indian Penal Code,” the SSP said.
Despite repeated attempts, Arya couldn’t be contacted for his remarks.
