Uttar Pradesh: Old enmity? Two try to frame man in rape case; held

NOIDA: Two persons, including a woman, were arrested from Shahberi on Monday for allegedly trying to frame a man in a false rape case. The complainant, Akash Yadav, a resident of Wave City, alleged that the duo tried to frame him because of his old rivalry with the village head of Dinanathpur Puthi.
The two who were arrested were identified as Pankaj Yadav (28), a resident of Hoshiyarpur village in Noida’s Sector 51, and the woman is a native of Uttarakhand, but currently staying in Shahberi. They were nabbed from Paradise Homes.
Akash told police that 15 days ago, he met the woman on Instagram, where she identified herself as Anjali. On April 15, he went to her house to meet her.
“When I went to her flat, she offered me a soft drink as it was quite hot. But after a few minutes of consuming the drink, I felt uneasy and started losing consciousness. Then, I saw a man coming out of the washroom. The woman introduced him as her brother, Pankaj Yadav. He told me I had tricked the village head and so I had to get a case closed against them, failing which they would trap me in a fake rape case. When I gained complete consciousness, I found the DIAL 112 team taking me to the police station,” he said in his complaint.
The woman had already complained to the police, alleging that Akash had entered her house and raped her, following which the cops took him to the police station. But after Akash’s counter-complaint, a fresh investigation was started.
“The investigation revealed the woman had mixed sedatives in Akash’s soft drink. When he fell unconscious, she clicked inappropriate pictures of him and tried to extort a hefty amount from his relatives,” said Anil Rajput, the SHO of Bisrakh police station.
In 2021, Akash had filed a case against Virendra Yadav, the head of Dinanathpur Puthi village. “Since 2021, Virendra has been my rival in panchayat elections for the post of village head. That year, our supporters got into a scuffle, and I filed a case against him. Hence, his son-in-law, Pushpendra Yadav, deputed his helper Pankaj Yadav to pressurise me to reach a compromise in the case. They used the woman to honeytrap me,” Akash said.
Police said the woman got Rs 2 lakh, a flat on rent, and a mobile phone from Virendra. “We have recovered three mobile phones and some sedatives from the arrested duo. The entire episode was staged by the village head of Dinanathpur Puthi, Virendra. He wanted to have supremacy in the village. Currently, he is absconding, along with his son-in-law," added the SHO.
Police said that they had booked the two under sections 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence), 420 (cheating), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.