The UP Police arrested the man Tuesday from Delhi, claiming it’s for a case of attempted murder lodged against him in 2001.

New Delhi: The Unnao rape case has taken a fresh turn, as the uncle of the victim, who was proactively pursuing the case against BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, was arrested by the police from his residence in Delhi Tuesday.

Vivek Tripathi, PRO Uttar Pradesh Police, told ThePrint that the person arrested from Delhi’s Nangloi area is indeed the same man, but that the arrest was made in an old case.

According to Outer Delhi DCP Seju P. Kuruvilla, the arrest was made at 3 pm Tuesday. “They have booked him under IPC 307 (attempt to murder) in an old case, where he was a proclaimed offender,” he told ThePrint.

According to an official document accessed by ThePrint, the uncle of the girl had been booked in 2001 for attempting to murder a man named Jaideep Singh, along with two others. He was granted bail on 3 November 2002. Tripathi claimed the man has since been absconding. The Unnao district sessions court issued a warrant for his arrest 12 November. He has been sent to judicial custody for two weeks.

The case came to prominence in April, when the 17-year-old victim tried to immolate herself outside the Uttar Pradesh CM’s office, since no action had been taken against Sengar despite an FIR. She alleged that she was kidnapped and raped by Sengar in June 2017. The very next day, her father died in police custody, after being allegedly assaulted by Sengar’s brother.

The CBI began its inquiry into the case on 12 April, and has filed two chargesheets — one in the rape case which named Sengar, and the other in the custodial death case in which his brother Atul was named.

Since the victim’s father’s death, the uncle had been leading the attempts to get her justice.

 

Custody death

The arrest has come about three months after the CBI’s main witness in the custody death case, Yunus Khan, died under mysterious circumstances. He was buried without an autopsy.

The death of Khan had kicked up a storm, with the victim’s uncle alleging foul play. According to him, Khan was an eyewitness to the assault on the victim’s father by Sengar’s men. The CBI, which investigated the custody death case, filed a chargesheet in July.

Khan’s family, however, had alleged that the victim’s uncle was blackmailing them. He had vehemently denied the claim, even producing evidence of not even being in the area at the time.

ThePrint’s YouTube channel is now active and buzzing. Please subscribe here.