New Delhi: Police arrested a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi for allegedly raping a party colleague, filming the sexual assault, and then blackmailing her with the videos. Ajitpal Singh Chauhan, a resident of Sidhi town, was held from Rewa on Tuesday. He has been expelled by the BJP.
Sidhi’s Additional Superintendent of Police Arvind Shrivastava said that the woman had lodged a case against Chauhan, accusing him of rape and blackmailing her for money. The police found evidence against him and arrested him. The woman had also alleged that the BJP leader promised to get her the ruling party’s ticket to contest Vidhan Sabha polls in 2023.
‘It’s a political conspiracy’
Reacting to the allegations, Chauhan dubbed it as a plot. “It is a political conspiracy against me. I am sure that the court will do justice,” he remarked. BJP district president Dev Kumar Singh Chauhan said that about three years ago, Ajitpal Singh joined the BJP after being with the Congress previously. He was a primary member of the party, but he has now been expelled following his arrest on rape charges, he pointed out.
A case has been registered against him under sections 64 (1) (rape), 308(5) (extortion), 296 (obscene act), 251(3) (giving gift and property to conceal offence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Chauhan comes from a prominent political and former royal family in Sidhi district, which has been associated with the Congress for decades.
On Tuesday, Haryana BJP chief Mohanlal Badoli and a singer were reportedly booked after a woman accused them of gang-raping her at a hotel in Kasauli. The complainant stated that the two men filmed the assault and threatened to kill her if she reported the incident. The FIR was filed on December 13 last year. The woman alleged that both forced her to drink alcohol, and raped her in a room.
