The occupants of the car were on way to Rae Bareli jail to meet the rape victim’s uncle when the incident occurred in the Gurubaksganj police station area. Kuldeep Singh Sengar is also lodged in jail since last year on rape charges.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has dropped murder charges against MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in connection with the July 28 incident in which the Unnao rape victim and her lawyer were critically injured and two of her aunts were killed after their vehicle was hit by a truck in Rae Bareli.
According to the chargesheet filed in a special court in Lucknow on Friday, the CBI investigation found that the incident occurred due to rash driving.
The occupants of the car were on way to Rae Bareli jail to meet the rape victim’s uncle when the incident occurred in the Gurubaksganj police station area. Sengar is also lodged in jail since last year on rape charges.
The CBI, which is investigating the case on the recommendation of the Uttar Pradesh government, filed the chargesheet against 11 people, including the MLA, his brother Mahesh Singh Sengar and truck driver Ashish Kumar Pal. Other accused include Harpal Singh, husband of Shashi Singh who is co-accused in the rape case with MLA Sengar, and his son Naveen Singh.
“Today, the CBI filed chargesheet against 11 persons including MLA Kuldeep Sengar and truck driver Ashish Kumar Pal in the court of Special Judicial Magistrate, Lucknow. Among the 11 persons chargesheeted, 10 were named in the FIR lodged by the rape victim’s uncle. These 10 persons have been chargesheeted under IPC sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 506-(2) (punishment for criminal intimidation),” said CBI spokesperson R K Gaur.
“Truck driver Ashish Kumar Pal has been chargesheeted under IPC section 304-A (causing death by negligence), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way),” he added.
The FIR was lodged on a complaint by the rape victim’s uncle against 10 people including MLA Sengar on charges of murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation.
The complainant had alleged that his family, including his wife (who died in the July 28 incident), used to tell him that MLA Sengar and his men were regularly threatening them and pressing them to change statements in court.
The uncle had stated that the accused had threatened that his family would be killed in a road accident if they did not reach a compromise with them.
He also alleged that the MLA’s associate forced his family to speak to Sengar with their phone.
The CBI took over the investigation after lodging the FIR on July 30. In July this year, an Unnao court sentenced the uncle to 10 years’ imprisonment in a 2010 attempt to murder case.
Source: The Indian Express
