The Lucknow Police have arrested two people for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 1 crore from the wife of Unnao rape accused and Bharatiya Janata Party Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the Hindustan Times reported on Friday. Posing as a Bharatiya Janata Party leader and an officer from the Central Bureau of Investigation, the two men reportedly sought a bribe to get the case against Sengar dropped.
The Lucknow Police identified the two as Alok and Vijay. “Two people have been arrested for demanding Rs 1 crore from Sangeeta Singh, wife of Kuldeep Singh Sengar,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar. “They were offering to secure release of the MLA from custody.”
Sangeeta Singh told the police that she first received a call from a man posing as a BJP leader on May 5. He asked her for Rs 1 crore, and then brought it down to Rs 50 lakh when she said it was too much. The next day, another person who identified himself as a CBI officer called her and told her to bring the money to the agency’s Lucknow office on May 7.
The police traced the two men after Sangeeta Singh and her relatives complained to the police.
Sengar and some of his aides are accused of raping a teenager in June 2017. He allegedly raped the girl when she went to his house looking for work. It took 10 months, an immolation attempt by the girl and her family, the death of her father in judicial custody, and public outrage before an FIR was finally registered against the politician. After the Uttar Pradesh government asked the CBI to take over the inquiry, the agency arrested Sengar and charged him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
On Tuesday, Sengar and co-accused Shashi Singh were shifted to Sitapur jail from Unnao after the complainant’s appeal in the Allahabad High Court alleging that she felt threatened. Sengar’s brother Atul Singh and four other co-accused are still lodged in Unnao jail.
CBI confirms rape charge against MLA, accuses police of collusion
The Central Bureau of Investigation has corroborated the girl’s charge that Sengar had raped her on June 4, 2017, The Times of India reported.
Unidentified CBI officials told the daily that despite the girl’s repeated statements that Sengar had raped her, the local police kept the names of the MLA and some of his accomplices out of the FIR and chargesheet. The police also delayed her medical examination, an officer said. “This was all deliberate and in connivance with the accused persons,” the CBI officer said.
Demand for death penalty
The girl and her uncle on Friday demanded death penalty for Sengar for raping her and murdering her father, ANI reported. “We demand protection for our family so that we can give our statement before the court fearlessly,” her uncle added.
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