Retired IPS officer Amitabh Thakur was arrested on Friday for abetment of suicide after a 24-year-old woman who had set herself on fire outside the Supreme Court succumbed to injuries at a Delhi hospital. A Lucknow court magistrate has remanded Thakur to judicial custody till September 9.
The woman had attempted self-immolation outside the Supreme Court on August 16 and accused Bahujan Samaj Party MP Atul Rai of rape in May 2019. The woman accompanied by a man had set themselves on fire and had suffered 85 per cent and 65 per cent burns. The 27-year-old man succumbed to injuries on August 21. The woman succumbed to injuries during the course of treatment on Tuesday at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
A special investigation team (SIT) was formed to probe into the matter and it submitted its report on Friday.
The SIT, in its report, alleged that a total of seven cases were registered by the accused party (Atul Rai) against the victim and her witness. It claimed that Amitabh Thakur took money from Atul Rai for fabricating false evidence against the rape victim and maligned her image, inciting the woman to commit suicide.
According to Police sources, the case has been registered under section 120-B (conspiracy), 195-A (intimidation to produce false evidence), 218 (preparation of false record by public servant to save any person from punishment), 306 (abetment to suicide) ,504 (breach of public peace) and 506 (intimidation) against MP Atul Rai and Amitabh Thakur on a complaint of senior sub-inspector Dayashankar Dwivedi in Hazratganj Kotwali on the instructions of the SIT.
On the basis of the report, Amitabh Thakur was arrested from his residence and taken to the Hazratganj kotwali.
BSP MP Rape Case
Police said she was from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur and was allegedly raped by Bahujan Samaj Party MP Atul Rai in 2019. The MP has been in judicial custody in the case for the last two years, police said. Before attempting suicide, the woman with her associate had recorded a Facebook Live video in which she disclosed her identity and claimed that she had filed the rape case against Rai in 2019. She had alleged that some senior Uttar Pradesh police officers, including Thakur, were supporting the accused.
Police said the woman had filed a plea in the Supreme Court in March, seeking transfer of her rape case from Allahabad to Delhi for a fair trial. The woman claimed that she faced a threat to her life. Later in August, a local court in Varanasi issued a non-bailable warrant against her for allegedly submitting wrong proof of age in the rape case, based on a complaint filed by Rai’s brother.
Following the suicide attempt, two Varanasi policemen including Varanasi Cantt SHO Rakesh Singh and investigation officer Girija Shankar, probing the case of forgery against the rape victim were suspended and an inquiry was initiated into the matter, police had said.
According to News18 Hindi, Thakur and IPS Amit Pathak were questioned by an SIT probe led by DG RK Vishwakarma and ADG Meera Rawat on Tuesday.
Who is Amitabh Thakur?
Thakur’s arrest came hours after he announced he will float a new political party soon ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The proposed name of his new outfit is Adhikar Sena.
The government had issued an order for Thakur’s premature retirement on March 23 this year, saying he was “not found fit to be retained for the remaining tenure of his service”. An officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, he would have retired in 2028.
The officer was suspended on July 13, 2015, days after he had accused Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav of threatening him. A vigilance enquiry was also initiated against him.
Thakur will be produced in Lucknow Court after medical examination.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and SP president Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP government for filing case against the former police officer. “Unprecedented work of police of BJP government against the former police! BJP politics survives only by creating rifts among the people. Now, due to the pressure of the BJP government, the police is forced to work against the police. Such treatment to a retired IPS is unforgivable,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.
(With PTI inputs)
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Assembly Elections Live Updates here.
Comments
0 comment