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Sexual assault allegation against Vinod Arya: Video of staffer goes viral
Following the complaint, the Arya was called to the Jwalapur police station on Wednesday and was questioned for several hours
Days after former Uttarakhand minister and expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinod Arya was booked on the charges of attempting to sexually assault and murder his staffer in Haridwar, a video, from the house of the minister has gone viral on social media.
In the video, it can be seen that the staffer is bleeding from his left wrist while Arya can be seen dressing a bandage on it.
The staffer, who made the allegation of assault against Arya visited him at his house on December 2. According to staffer, 25, Arya threatened to kill him and attacked him with a sharp object. After the complaint, an investigation into the matter was launched by Jawalpur police.
Also Read: Day on, staffer retracts allegation against former Uttarakhand min
Jwalapur police station in charge RK Saklani said, “We have included the video in the investigation.”
However, “On examination of the footage of the CCTV camera installed at Arya’s house, we got to know the complainant cut his wrist contrary to the allegations levelled in the first information report (FIR) that Arya attacked him with a sharp object. We will reach the bottom of the matter,” said Saklani.
In the video, a woman can also be heard accusing the staffer of blackmailing Arya by cutting his wrist.
On Thursday, a police official who didn’t wish to be named told HT that the complainant gave a contradictory statement before the magistrate on Wednesday.
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 levelled in the initial FIR registered at Jwalapur police station against the minister on Tuesday.
Senior superintendent of police, Haridwar, Ajai Singh said the complainant’s statement before the magistrate has been included in the investigation.
Following the complaint, the Arya was called to the Jwalapur police station on Wednesday and was questioned for several hours, another police officer said.
The alleged incident took place on November 20 following which a complaint was registered at Jwalapur police station on December 2.
Despite repeated attempts, the complainant couldn’t be contacted for his remarks.
Arya was expelled from the BJP 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.
