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Case against Chinmayanand: Missing woman ‘spotted’ in Delhi hotel, CCTV footage recovered
The woman is a student of SS Law College in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur. Chinmayanand is chairman of the college. His lawyer has alleged a conspiracy to blackmail the politician to extort money.
A day after former union minister Swami Chinmayanand was booked for allegedly kidnapping a female law student, the woman, who has been allegedly missing since she posted a video on her Facebook page on August 24, was spotted at a Delhi hotel, officials privy to the probe said.
But she had already left the hotel when a police team reached there, they said.
In the video that went viral, the woman had accused “a big leader of the saint society” of threatening her and “destroying the lives of several girls’. The woman is a student of SS Law College in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur. Chinmayanand is chairman of the college. His lawyer has alleged a conspiracy to blackmail the politician to extort money.
Officials said call records and the investigation so far indicated the woman had made a call to her mother from Delhi. Police have reportedly got the call recording.
Senior superintendent of police, Shahjahanpur, S Chinappa could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
Director general of police (DGP) UP OP Singh said, “We are investigating both cases (disappearance of the woman and extortion). We have some clues and the case will be solved very soon.”
Another police official privy to the matter, said, “Teams have been sent to different locations. There are some leads in the case. We have recovered CCTV footage from a hotel in Dwarka, New Delhi. We are close to solving the case.”
Police were yet to question Swami Chinmayanand. Despite repeated attempts, he neither responded to calls nor messages. However, in a video doing rounds on social media, he is seen in an ashram at Haridwar where refused to comment on this case. “Whatever I have to say, I will say in Shahjahanpur,” Chinmayanand told people shooting the video.
According to news agency reports, Chinmayanand said that he was being framed in the case.
Referring to the FIR lodged against him, the BJP leader told a news channel: “This is a conspiracy against me and the girl in question is a part of it. There are four other boys who had earlier tried to blackmail me and extort money.”
The former minister further said that attempts were being made to malign the image of the Yogi Adityanath government.
“Earlier Kuldeep Singh Sengar was implicated in a similar case and now I am being targeted,” he said.
His lawyer Om Singh said, “Police have not reached us regarding yesterday’s (Tuesday’s) FIR. I enquired about another case, in which Swami Chinmayanand was asked to pay Rs 50 million and the police said they are working on both cases.”
He added, “Swamiji has no enmity with the girl or the family but his opponents are using them. The girl is playing into the hands of those who want to defame Swamiji.”
The woman’s father said, “We don’t want anything but the safety of my daughter. I am not aware of any conspiracy. I know we are fighting mighty people, but don’t want to indulge in any game.” On being asked whether the woman’s mother spoke to her, even after she was ‘missing’, he said he had no such information.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has also taken the note of the incident and asked the Uttar Pradesh director general of police to expedite the probe.
It has also asked the DGP to ensure the safety of the woman and her family.
PRIYANKA HITS OUT AT UP GOVT
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said the alleged harassment of a woman student by Chinmayanand in Shahjahanpur appears to be a repetition of the Unnao case.
She was referring to the rape charge made by a 19-year-old woman from Unnao against MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was expelled from the BJP recently
In a tweet in Hindi with with hashtag ‘EnoughIsEnough’, Priyanka Gandhi wrote: “In Uttar Pradesh, this matter appears to be repetition of the Unnao case. If a woman complains against a BJP leader, then she is not guaranteed justice, even her own safety is not guaranteed.”
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s media advisor Mrityunjay Kumar said the Congress general secretary should not create confusion and the police have taken all the steps in this regard.
In another tweet, Gandhi said, “Not a single day passes in Uttar Pradesh when the BJP government manages to assure women that you are safe and you will get justice if anything happens with you.”
She also tagged new reports of the case involving Swami Chinmayanand in support of her tweets.
“Last year, the BJP government had withdrawn a rape case against accused (Chinmayanand). It’s clear where the government is standing. UP girls are watching,” Gandhi said in the microblogging site.
“The girl, who raised voice is missing or deliberately being taken away. What is happening with her nobody knows. Till when this will continue?” she posed in another tweet.
CASE CHRONOLOGY
August 22: Chinmayanand receives a message from an anonymous person for extortion
August 24: Woman posts a video on her FB timeline around 4pm
August 25: Swami Chinamayanand registers a FIR against an anonymous person for blackmailing him
August 25: Father gives missing complaint of his daughter, names Swami Chinamayanand
August 27: FIR registered against Chinmayanand for kidnapping and criminal intimidation
