Dehradun, Nov 11(PTI) Congress leader and former Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat on Wednesday said the BJP is raising a case of allegations of sexual assault against him as his party is fighting to secure justice in the Ankita Bhandari case.
In a social media post, Rawat said the Congress will continue its fight for Ankita until justice is served and the ‘VIP’ allegedly involved in the case is held accountable.
Last week, Jenny, a resident of Assam, triggered a row when she reiterated rape allegations against Rawat after almost 23 years, and demanded a fresh CBI probe into the matter.
She alleged that in 2002, when she was 16, some people took her to Rawat’s residence in Dehradun on the pretext of providing her a job, where the former minister sexually assaulted her.
She subsequently gave birth to a child, and claimed that Rawat, who was the revenue minister at the time, was the father. Jenny was subsequently sent to a state-run Nari Niketan.
In his post, Rawat said, “The BJP is using Jenny as a political weapon against me as part of a calculated conspiracy to divert public attention from the Ankita Bhandari case and the ‘VIP’ involved with it.”
He also claimed that in 2003, when the BJP was in power in Uttarakhand, the CBI investigated the allegations levelled by the Assamese woman.
“The CBI report clearly stated that Jenny attempted to mislead the agency by making false statements on several occasions. A DNA test was also conducted at the time,” Rawat said.
By questioning the CBI investigation, the BJP is also casting doubt on its own government of the time, as well as then-prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Rawat said.
The matter also puts the credibility of every investigation conducted by the CBI at the time under scanner, he added.
The Congress leader also claimed that the BJP is raking the issue fearing its imminent defeat in next year’s Uttarakhand elections.
“The Congress has thwarted the BJP’s hate-driven agendas. Now, at the behest of Chief Minister (Pushkar Singh) Dhami, the Jenny episode is being exploited as a political weapon against me – a tactic designed to distract the public from the real issues facing Uttarakhand and to shield the corruption of state ministers,” Rawat alleged.
Ankita, who worked as a receptionist at a resort in Rishikesh, was killed on September 18, 2022.
Resort owner Pulkit Arya, son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, and two of his accomplices were convicted in the case and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The case hogged political spotlight over allegations that an unidentified ‘VIP’ was linked to the crime.
Ankita’s family has demanded an investigation into the alleged VIP angle, with senior BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam’s name being linked to the allegations. PTI SPY ARI
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