Social activist arrested in minister’s extortion case

Noida: Social activist Usha Thakur has been arrested in connection with the alleged extortion attempt of Union minister Mahesh Sharma. Usha, whom Sharma had addressed as an “elder sister” in a news conference held soon after the first arrest in the case, had allegedly “connived with the accused”.
Usha’s is the fourth arrest in the case. The others arrested are Alok Kumar, the owner of the now defunct Pratinidhi channel who allegedly conducted the sting, and his employees Nisha and Nishu.
The family of the 70-year-old activist, who had vehemently denied the allegations against her earlier, is taking legal opinion to facilitate her bail.
While police have claimed that it was Usha who had introduced Alok to Sharma, the minister’s brother, Ajay, has maintained that the family had “not given any complaint against her”. Alok, the owner of the now defunct Pratinidhi channel, had introduced himself as a businessman and offered to provide logistical support for Sharma’s Lok Sabha campaign. He had stealthily recorded the meeting, during which the minister can be seen using the term “code words”.
Usha was arrested around 10am on Friday. “A posse of policemen arrived at the house and arrested madam,” a worker at the house said.
Gautam Budh Nagar SSP Vaibhav Krishna said that Usha knew Alok and would participate in discussions in his channel. “She knew that his (Alok’s) financial condition had deteriorated (after the channel closed down) and had even helped him,” he added.
Asked about Sharma addressing Usha like an “elder sister”, SSP Krishna declined comment.
Though not named as accused, both Usha and former police officer KK Gautam find mention in the contents of the FIR in connection with the extortion case. Both have denied having any inkling about the sting on Sharma.
The minister’s brother, Ajay Sharma, told TOI they came to know about Usha’s arrest from the media. “Our stand is that we had lodged no complaint against her. It is true that the minister respects her as an elder sister,” he said.
Usha’s family said that she had been framed by Alok. They are planning to take legal opinion to seek bail. “We are shocked by her arrest and can’t give any statements at this moment. She has been always good to the society. She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time,” a relative said.
Her husband S Thakur said Usha had wanted to leave after introducing Alok to the minister in March but was persuaded to stay on at the meeting. “Alok forced her to stay. She did not know it was a sting operation. The tapes can show if she was really involved, but they are not there,” Thakur said.
A known face in Noida, Usha had earlier grabbed the headlines in connection with the Aarushi case and Nithari killings.
A few days after Aarushi’s father, Rajesh Talwar, was arrested for allegedly killing her 14-year-old daughter, Usha had famously claimed that Hemraj — the domestic help of the Talwars — had confided in her that “he feared for his life and that of some of his near and dear ones”.