New Delhi: A day after he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the alleged rape of a 17-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district, BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar on Saturday claimed innocence and said he has ‘faith in the judiciary’.
The four-time MLA, who was produced before a Lucknow Court earlier in the day, has been sent to seven-day police custody.
"We support fair investigation. He has been sent to seven-day CBI custody," said BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar's lawyer.
Sengar was arrested after the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered the CBI to "arrest, not detain" the BJP MLA.
The court said that it will monitor the probe and asked the authorities to submit a progress report in the matter by May 2.
Taking a strong objection to the UP government's submission that Sengar would not be arrested on mere registration of the FIR, the court said this approach is "not only appalling but shocks the conscience of the court in the backdrop of the instant case."
The CBI also made a second arrest in the case as it took into custody Shashi Singh, the woman who allegedly took the victim to BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar on the day of crime, officials said.
In her complaint to UP Police, now part of the CBI FIR, the victim's mother has alleged that Shashi Singh had lured her daughter and took her to Sengar's residence where he raped her.
She has also alleged that while the MLA was raping her daughter, Shashi Singh stood outside the room as a guard.
After a massive public outrage over the inaction of the UP police, the case was handed over to the CBI on April 12. The agency took over the investigation in three cases related to the alleged rape of the 17-year-old girl by the BJP MLA.
The agency, which was referred the matter on Wednesday, took immediate action by re-registering the FIRs filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
The first FIR pertains to the alleged rape of the girl in which Sengar and Shashi Singh have been named as accused.
The second pertains to rioting, in which four locals have been booked, and the alleged killing of the victim's father in judicial custody. Since the murder charge was added later by the state police, it does not reflect in the CBI FIR.
The third case pertains to the allegations against the victim's father, who was arrested by the police under the Arms Act and put in jail, where he died. According to the post-mortem examination report, he had suffered serious injuries.
According to the rules, the CBI re-registers the FIRs filed by a state police when taking over a probe, but remains at freedom to arrive at its own conclusions, which are filed before a special court in its final report.
The final report can either be a closure report or a chargesheet.
The victim has alleged that on June 4, 2017, she was raped by BJP MLA Sengar at his residence, when she had gone to meet him, along with a relative, seeking a job.
In February, the girl's family had moved the court, seeking to include the MLA's name in the case. Subsequently, the victim's father was booked by the police under the Arms Act on April 3 and put in jail on April 5.
Frustrated with the alleged police inaction and coercion from influential people, the victim attempted self-immolation in front of Chief Minister Adityanath's residence on April 8.
The next day, her father died in jail with the post-mortem examination report suggesting serious injuries on his body.
Sengar, a four-time MLA, enjoys an immense clout, cutting across party lines, in rural areas of Unnao district, a semi-urban area about 70 km from Lucknow.
(With PTI inputs)
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