Trouble seems to be brewing for Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Adityanath government as the CBI has taken over investigations of three FIRs registered by the state police in the case of the alleged rape of a girl by a BJP MLA, Kuldeep Singh Sengar.
Sources in the agency said the role of the UP police will be examined in the matter amid allegations that it was unwilling to act against the accused persons and also on the charges of beating the father of the alleged rape victim. The father died of injuries allegedly received while in police custody.
Waiting to corner the Adityanath government, the opposition was quick to attack the state government over its alleged inaction in the matter. It is believed that the Centre nudged the Adityanath government to hand over the case to the CBI, to which it agreed. And as soon as the Central agency took over the case, it called Sengar for questioning at 4am on Friday to its Lucknow office.
“The BJP MLA has been detained for questioning," said a CBI official.
A team of CBI officials is also recording the statement of the rape victim.
Among the three FIRs taken over by the CBI, the first one pertains to the rape and kidnapping of the girl and has been registered on the complaint of the girl's mother. The mother has filed another complaint on the alleged beating of her husband, which subsequently resulted in his death. The third FIR was registered against the girl's father on the charges of violation of the Arms Act and indulging in rioting.
What seems to have compounded problems for the Adityanath government is the fact that the Unnao rape case has come at the same time as the horrific rape and murder of a eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir.
Allegations are flying that those protesting in Jammu against filing of charges against the accused have the support of BJP activists. Both the cases have caught the BJP dispensations at the Centre and the state governments on the back foot.
The opposition is expected to continue its attack on the BJP as the twin cases have become a political potboiler after Rahul Gandhi took to the streets on Thursday midnight to take out a candlelight march to protest against the government and show solidarity with the rape victims' families.