Not trying to protect 'honourable' MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in Unnao rape case, UP DGP OP Singh tells media

Soon after an FIR was registered against BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar for raping a minor in 2017, the Uttar Pradesh Police and officials from the state government held a press briefing in Lucknow and said that the case has been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The clamour for Sengar’s arrest grew louder after the MLA’s midnight drama at the SSP’s office in Lucknow late on Wednesday. Sengar has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Superintendent of Police (SP), Unnao, Pushpanjali Devi said. The FIR has been registered under Sections 376 (rape), 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage,), 363 (kidnapping) and 506 (criminal intimidation) at the Makhi police station, the officer said. Addressing the media, Uttar Pradesh home secretary Arvind Kumar and Uttar Pradesh DGP Om Prakash Singh told the media that investigation in the case was underway and the case would be handed over to the CBI. “We want a transparent investigation and I am sure so do you,” Kumar told the mediapersons gathered at the conference. However, the officials said that Sengar cannot be arrested unless the claims made against him are proven. Sengar and his brothers allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl in June 2017. The father of the girl died in police custody on 9 April. A defiant Sengar, however, had rejected the charge as a conspiracy by his opponents and said the complainant belonged to a “low class”, even as six policemen were suspended and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath assured that the guilty will not be spared. The woman’s father, aged around 50, was rushed to a hospital from the district jail on the night of 8 April but he died during the treatment, an officials said. He was arrested on 5 April under the Arms Act, they added. Significantly, a case had been registered against four persons a few days earlier on a complaint by the deceased’s wife that he was beaten up. “The four accused — Sonu, Baua, Vinit and Shailu — named in the FIR registered on 4 April for beating up the deceased had been arrested,” Superintendent of Police, Unnao, Pushpanjali Devi was quoted as saying. “They belong to a low status family (’nimn star ke log hain’)…This is a conspiracy by my opponents,” Sengar told reporters, but refused to comment on speculation about he being summoned by Adityanath. ‘Honourable’, says DGP and faces flak During Wednesday’s briefing, the DGP came under fire from the media after he referred to Sengar as ‘Honourable MLA’. The mediapersons present at the briefing were quick to point out the irony of the situation to the top cop and asked him how was Sengar “honourable”? Singh said, “His (Sengar’s) crimes have not been proven yet, and there is no reason why he shouldn’t be given respect of his position.” Singh had been appointed as the new Director-General of Police of Uttar Pradesh by the Yogi Adityanath-led government in December 2017. Singh succeeded the then incumbent DGP Sulkhan Singh. Singh was quick to add that saying “honourable” does not mean that the police or the state government was protecting Sengar. The DGP said that no one is protecting Sengar. “We are just saying that we have to listen to both sides. The matter has now gone to the CBI. In such a case, the CBI will decide on the arrest of the MLA. Action will be taken and enough protection will be given to the victim and her family,” Singh said.

The UP Police said that the FIR against Sengar was registered on Thursday morning. Late on Wednesday night, the Adityanath government had decided to hand the probe into the Unnao rape case to the CBI. Facing heat and growing outrage over the alleged involvement of Sengar in the rape, the government had also decided to register an FIR against the legislator and the other accused and hand over the investigation to the agency. The government has also recommended a CBI probe into the death of the victim’s father allegedly in custody on Monday. The decisions were taken after the Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted under additional director-general of police (Lucknow zone), to look into the matter submitted its report to the government. The development came hours after the Allahabad High Court sought the Uttar Pradesh government’s stand on the incident on a letter to the court by senior lawyer Gopal Swaroop Chaturvedi detailing the case and posted the matter for hearing on Thursday. Click here for LIVE updates on the Unnao Rape Case