Unnao rape and murder cases: CBI seizes SUV, rifle of BJP MLA’s brother

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seized a sports utility vehicle (SUV) and a licensed rifle of raped accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s brother Atul Singh Sengar from their Unnao residence on Saturday night, people familiar with the probe said.

The BJP MLA is in CBI custody in connection with a teenager’s accusation that he raped her last June.

Atul and his four aides are accused of attacking the rape victim’s father and causing his death. They were in CBI custody since Wednesday but were sent to jail after their remand ended on Sunday.

“The Fortuner vehicle, in which Atul travelled, and a rifle has been seized after questioning his family members about the sequence of events at his residence in Makhi, Unnao,” said a senior CBI officer privy to the investigation.

He said the CBI team stayed at the Sengars’ residence for around three hours and tried collecting evidence in connection with assault on the rape victim’s father on April 3 evening. The girl’s father had been sent to jail in an allegedly fake case.

The girl’s father was allegedly attacked by Atul and his aides to pressure him not to pursue his petition in an Unnao court. The girl’s father was seeking registration of an FIR against the MLA for alleged rape of his daughter on June 4, 2017. He succumbed to his injuries on April 9 in the absence of proper treatment inside the jail.

The CBI official said Atul and his aides were travelling in the same vehicle when they allegedly beat up the girl’s father and used the butt of the same rifle to hit him in the stomach, inflicting a fatal injury in his ascending colon (the first main part of large intestine) as mentioned in his post-mortem examination report.

He said several people staying at the MLA’s house and other villagers were questioned on Saturday to connect missing links in the entire sequence of events in the assault case.

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government withdrew the security cover of the MLA soon after an FIR of rape and kidnapping was lodged against him on April 12. The development had come after the BJP-led governments in the state and the Centre faced criticism over the handling of the Unnao rape and murder cases, which sent shock waves across the country.

The alleged crime grabbed headlines after the rape survivor held protests outside chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s Lucknow residence and attempted self-immolation on April 8. The police too faced criticism for allegedly botching up the initial probe under Sengar’s influence.

VICTIM’S AUNT TO BE QUESTIONED

Lucknow: The CBI sleuths will question the victim’s aunt on Monday in connection with rape allegations made by the teenager. A CBI team, along with the girl’s uncle who is now pursuing the case, had gone to Delhi to bring back his wife who was reportedly first informed by the girl about the rape.

The girl had earlier told the media that her uncle had taken her to his Delhi residence in first week of August 2017 and she narrated her ordeal to her aunt there. The girl’s uncle is pursuing the case since then and launched campaign on social media. He visited the CM’s office to lodge the complaint against the MLA in the matter.