A Special Investigation Team (SIT,) on the 13th of September, interrogated Swami Chinmayanand, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP,) in relation to a rape case.
On the 9th of September, a law student from Shahjahanpur alleged Chinmayanand of rape and filed a case against him.
The Supreme Court (SC,) on the 3rd of September, ordered the Shahjahanpur Police to form a SIT to probe the case and submit a report about the same. The SIT started the investigation and interrogated Chinmayanand for 7 hours at the Shahjahanpur Police Lines, Uttar Pradesh and also sealed the ashram where Chinmayanand resided.
A forensic team reached the ashram and inspected the ashram and sealed the bedroom of Chinmayanand to verify the allegations made by the girl.
A police officer, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “No one is allowed to enter or exit Chinmayanand’s house till the probe team is inside. The forensics team will inspect the (bed)room that was sealed last night (12th of September).”
Chinmayanand reached the Police Lines in Shahjahanpur at 6:00 P.M., on the 12th of September, following which, the interrogation started. It continued for 7 long hours until the early hours of the 13th of September.
Om Singh, the lawyer of Chinmayanand, said, “Then SIT arrived at Swami ji’s residence to inspect the bedroom and then sealed it. It is a part of the investigation process. They (SIT) sealed it on Thursday night and will open it after the probe is over.”
On the other hand, a friend of the victim spoke for the first time and said he has proof against Chinmayanand and handed the same to the SIT. He said, “She had been raped for a year. Earlier, she did not have the means to expose Swamiji. Now she has done so. I have handed over the proof to the SIT and it shows what Swamiji is doing. I have full faith in the SIT.”
Speaking further, the victim’s friend said, “She started confiding in me about how she was given a room in the hostel and how lodging expenses were waived. She did not know what was about to happen. She went to take a bath one day and Swami ji got a video made and then used the video to exploit her. This is true.”
According to the victim’s friend, whose identity was kept hidden due to security reasons, Chinmayanand helped the victim get admission into a law college and exploited her.
Inspector General Naveen Arora is leading the SIT team and the investigation regarding the case is underway.
Stay tuned for further updates.
