Chinmayanand case: Law student arrested; SIT acted in haste, says her lawyer

The Shahjahanpur law student, who accused former BJP MP Chinmayanand of rape, was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh SIT for extortion on Wednesday. She has been sent to judicial custody till October 7.

She was arrested around 9.15 am from her home by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Uttar Pradesh Police amid massive deployment of forces. Soon after the woman's arrest, her counsel Anoop Trivedi filed a bail plea that was to be heard in court later in the day. However, the plea was rejected by the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-1.

The woman was arrested upon receiving verification of the material it had submitted for forensic examination. 

The team arrested the student from her home in Shahjahanpur after the authenticity of the recording in which the woman and her three male friends are talking about extortion was established by the Central Forensic Laboratory. 

"We asked Miss A to identify the three boys which she did. She has also identified the vehicle in which the said conversation took place and has admitted about her role in planning the extortion," the SIT told the media in Shahjahanpur on Wednesday. The team has also verified all the toll receipts on the route which the vehicle took. The three male friends of the woman have already been arrested. 

On the speculation that there had been an extortion demand made from Chinmayanand before the accusations were made by the woman and that a deal was being negotiated, the SIT said that it was still a matter of investigation. 

On August 22, Chinmayanand had received a message on his phone asking for Rs 5 crores. On August 25, a day after the student accused him of destroying her life in a social media post, a police complaint had been filed about the same. 

The investigating team is looking into the allegations of rape made by the 23-year-old woman against Chinmayanand and the allegations of extortion made by the latter. 

The woman was taken for a medical examination and presented to the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate before being taken to jail for 14 days. 

The team has, meanwhile, made no move to ask for custody of Chinmayanand who was arrested but is in a hospital in Lucknow. The SIT said that there was no need to ask for custody as no materials had to be recovered from his possession.

Meanwhile, the woman's lawyer Anoop Trivedi has said that the SIT has acted in haste. "We had appealed for anticipatory bail at the District Court on Tuesday. The court had summoned all the records and given us a date of the 26th. All parties concerned should have respected the observation of the court", he told THE WEEK. 

Chinmayanand was arrested by the SIT on September 20 and was remanded to 14 days in judicial custody. After raising allegations against Chinmayanand in a video, the law student had gone missing from Shahjahanpur before resurfacing.

On September 21, the SIT had booked the law student and three of her friends for extortion and removing evidence. The Allahabad High Court had on Monday refused to grant a stay on possible arrest to the law student.

A local court on Tuesday had admitted the interim bail plea filed by the law student. The court has fixed Thursday for hearing her plea, which seeks protection from arrest for allegedly trying to extort money from the former Union minister.

"Additional District Judge Sudhir Kumar has admitted our bail application, and summoned all records related to the case on the next date of hearing on September 26," Trivedi told reporters.

"It is a big relief for us as our plea has been admitted," he said. The woman, however, faced questioning later by the special investigation team (SIT) that was set up by the Uttar Pradesh police under the directions of the Supreme Court.

Chinmayanand's own bail application was rejected by Shahjahanpur chief judicial magistrate, who said it should be moved in the sessions court, according to his counsel Om Singh.

The 72-year-old politician was arrested in Shahjahanpur on Friday and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.

On Monday, he was admitted at Lucknow's Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, complaining of chest pain, and remains there under observation.

The CJM's court had also rejected the bail application of three men who were arrested on extortion charges filed by the BJP leader. The law student was also booked under the same charge.

(Inputs from Puja Awasthi)