Poet kin, ex-cop mentioned in minister’s extortion FIR

Noida: The granddaughter of a Hindi poet and a former IPS officer, who had hit the headlines in connection with the 2008 Aarushi murder case, have found mention in the FIR lodged against three persons who allegedly tried to extort Union minister Mahesh Sharma on Monday.
The FIR has been registered at Sector 20 police station against Alok Kumar, the owner of a now defunct Hindi channel Pratinidhi, Nishu and Khalid, who had worked in the organisation. The FIR has been lodged on a complaint by Ajay Sharma, the minister’s cousin.

The three had allegedly tried to extort Rs 2 crore from Sharma after threatening to leak a video, recorded on March 24, in which the minister can be seen using the term “code words”.

Police have said Alok had identified himself as the owner or an IT firm and sought an appointment with Sharma on March 24. During the meeting, he had reportedly promised to provide logistical support for Sharma’s campaigning and had recorded the conversation. Alok had later pitched the meeting as a “sting operation”.

The FIR, however, mentions Usha Thakur, social activist and granddaughter of poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, and former Noida DSP KK Gautam. According to the FIR, Usha was with Alok when he had come to meet the minister on March 24.

“On April 9 again, the same person Alok came to me and said that he had captured Dr Sharma on sting and if he did not want it to go viral, then they could buy shares in Pratinidhi channel. I ignored the person due to my busy schedule during elections. On the evening of April 21, we received a message from Usha Thakur via KK Gautam which said that Alok wanted to meet Dr Sharma... On April 22, around 1.15 pm, when Usha Thakur was in Kailash Hospital for her mother’s check-up, a girl (Nishu) arrived and she said that she was sent by Alok and Khalid,” Ajay Sharma has written in the FIR.

Police said they were probing the role Usha and Gautam. Ajay Sharma, however, said: “Usha possibly did not know about the sting. We have not mentioned anything adverse about Usha or Gautam in the FIR.”

Usha said on Tuesday she had merely arranged for the meeting on March 24. “Alok came to me in August and claimed he wanted to help Mahesh Sharma. I finally agreed in March and helped arrange the meeting. A few days ago, I found he had conducted a sting. Even the woman (who was arrested) has claimed that I was used,” Usha said.

Gautam described himself as a “friend” of Sharma. “I got to know about the sting three-four days ago,” he said.

During investigation in the Aarushi murder case, Usha had claimed that Hemraj, the domestic help of the Talwars, had told her before his death that he feared for “his life and that of some of his near and dear ones”.

Gautam, who retired as a DSP in Noida in 2006, was among the first to have reached the murder spot and had noted that “three persons” might have sat on the bed in Hemraj’s room. He had told a special CBI court in 2012 that he was under pressure to suppress the rape angle in the autopsy report of Aarushi.