SIT grills rape accused Chinmayanand for seven hours

The special investigation team (SIT) probing a post graduate student's rape allegation against BJP leader Chinmayanand grilled him for seven hours and sealed the bedroom at the former union minister's residence here, police sources said on Friday.

The SIT, which has been formed on the orders of the Supreme Court, also brought the college student to Chinmayanand's residence on Friday morning to continue the probe in her presence and collect evidence, the sources said.

Chinmayanad was questioned on Thursday night for around seven hours at the police lines and his bedroom at Divya Dham residence was sealed, the sources said.

A team of forensic experts is also present at the residence, the sources said.

Sources said the BJP leader has been asked by the SIT not to leave Shahjahanpur till the completion of the probe and policemen in large numbers have been deployed in and around his residence.

The college administration has declared a holiday for today and a notice in this regard has been pasted on the gate.

The postgraduate student has alleged that she was raped and "physically exploited" for a year by the BJP leader, whose organisation runs several colleges.

The two principals who head colleges where the woman has studied were also questioned by the SIT on Thursday.

In a letter on the SIT on Wednesday, the woman alleged that some vital evidence was removed from her hostel room by Chinmayanand's supporters before it was sealed by the police.

Her father alleged that the supporters removed from the room a pair of spectacles with a camera fitted in them, suggesting that this contained evidence against the BJP leader.

The woman also alleged that they planted some things there to tarnish her image.

On Wednesday, the SIT questioned the leader's lawyer, Om Singh, for over five hours in connection with allegations that the woman had demanded Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand.

The woman was also taken to a local hospital for a medical examination by a panel of doctors.

In her letter to the SIT, the woman complained that though she had lodged an FIR in New Delhi on September 5, police was yet to register a complaint against the BJP leader.