Hemant Katare slapped with abduction, rape case; Congress MLA claims complainant blackmailing him

Bhopal: Police on Friday booked a Congress MLA, Hemant Katare, on charges of abduction and rape after a 21-year old journalism student, currently in jail for allegedly extorting money from Katare, filed a complaint. [caption id=“attachment_4332633” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Congress MLA Hemant Katare. Twitter@hemantkatareINC[/caption] Bhopal South’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Rahul Kumar Lodha on Friday said, “A case under IPC sections 376 (rape), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) was registered against Hemant Katare on the complaint of the woman, who is currently lodged in Bhopal Central Jail.” The journalism student was arrested on 24 January for trying to extort money from the Ater (Bhind) MLA. Lodha said that a case against Katare was registered after the journalism student’s complaint was forwarded to police authorities by the superintendent of Bhopal Central Jail, where she is currently lodged. When asked about the possibility of Katare’s arrest, Lodha said further action would be taken following completion of investigations, including recording the woman’s statement in court as well as a medical examination. Earlier on 24 January, the student (21), was arrested after she demanded Rs 2 crore from Katare and then came forward to collect the first instalment of Rs 5 lakh, police said. Katare had complained that the woman had been calling him since 17 January threatening to file a rape case against him if he did not pay Rs 2 crore to settle the issue. Following the case against Katare on Friday, the Congress said that it was an effort to harass Katare. “This is being done to harass Katare, who himself had filed a complaint against this woman for blackmail. She was caught red-handed while accepting money from Katare,” Congress spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi said.