The special investigation team (SIT) has arrested the girl student, who had levelled charges of rape against BJP leader and former union minister Swami Chinmayanand, for alleged extortion, said Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh on Wednesday. “The law student, who had accused Swami Chinmayanand of sexually harassing her, has been arrested by the SIT for allegedly trying to extort money from him,” Singh said to the reporters here. Last week, Chinmayanand was arrested by Uttar Pradesh police which charged him with an offense of not amounting to rape, stalking and criminal intimidation. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by IG Naveen Arora also arrested three friends of the woman on charges of trying to extort Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand, criminal intimidation, causing the disappearance of evidence and sending offensive messages to him. While Chinmayanand accepted “all evidences” that have come up against him, the three friends of the woman – Sanjay Singh, Vikram, Sachin–have accepted demanding the money from Chinmayanand, Arora told reporters. Chinmayanand, who was the minister of state for home in the Vajpayee government and ran a college in Shahjahanpur where the girl was a student, was produced before a local court which remanded him to 14-days judicial custody. Earlier on Monday, Chinmayanand was admitted to Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute (SGPGI) following symptoms of angina. “Swami Chinmayanand was admitted in MICU Ward of SGPGI under Professor P K Goel, Head of the Department Cardiology, with symptoms of angina,” Professor Amit Agarwal, Chief Medical Superintendent of SGPGI, said in a statement. Former Union Minister Chinmayanand is a known diabetic since long. “Angiography was done and no significant blockage was found and angioplasty was not required,” Agarwal said. According to the head of the department, Chinmayanand will be stabilized with medicines and then his discharge will be planned in due course of time.
