The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday booked MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and 10 others on murder charges in connection with a car crash involving a woman who had accused Sengar of rape in 2017, PTI reported.
The CBI took over the case from the Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday and as per normal procedure filed the first information report again.
The CBI report also named Arun Singh, the son-in-law of Minister of State for Agriculture in Uttar Pradesh government Ranvendra Singh, who is also an MLA from Fatehpur, where the truck involved in the car crash was registered, according to News18. The owner of the truck is also reportedly from the same place.
The investigating agency has named 25 people in the case. However, Arun Singh claimed that he was innocent and called it a “political controversy”. “Let CBI and police do the investigation,” News18 quoted him as saying. “I don’t know anything about the owner of the truck and I have never met or seen the Unnao victim.”
Ranvendra Singh also said that the CBI was investigating the case and that everything would soon be clear. “He is my relative there is no doubt [about] it, but that is not a crime,” ANI quoted him as saying.
The Uttar Pradesh Police had on Monday booked Sengar, his brother Manoj Singh Sengar and eight others on murder charges in connection with the car crash. Sengar is lodged in Sitapur district jail at present. According to the first information report, the personnel in charge of the complainant’s security had informed Sengar of her movements.
Unidentified officials said the agency has alerted its officials, who may visit the spot of the accident and take details from police officials of Gurubakshganj Police Station in Rae Bareli where the accident took place.
The 19-year-old complainant, who had accused the legislator of rape last year, and her lawyer are undergoing treatment at the trauma centre of King George’s Medical University in Lucknow. They are in serious condition, while two of the complainant’s aunts died in the same crash. The woman’s family has alleged that Sengar and his associates planned the car crash.
The MLA was arrested on April 13, 2018, after the girl accused him of raping her in June 2017, when she visited his home to ask for a job. The complainant accused the police of not taking any action when she approached them after the alleged incident.
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