Chinmayanand case: SIT formed to probe cross FIRs

The Uttar Pradesh government constituted a special investigation team (SIT) on Tuesday to probe the harassment charges levelled by a Shahjahanpur woman against former Union minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand.

The SIT, which was constituted on a Supreme Court order, will be headed by an inspector general-rank police officer and will to look into the two cross FIRs filed in the case, according to the state home department.

The woman, who is a student at a college run by Chinmayanand's trust, was missing since August 24, a day after she posted a video on social media alleging that a "senior leader of the sant community" was harassing and threatening to kill her. She did not name Chinmayanand in the video.

Her father had filed a complaint with police accusing Chinmayanand of sexually harassing her, a charge refuted by the BJP leader's lawyer who claimed it was a "conspiracy" to blackmail him.

She was found in Rajasthan on August 30 by the UP police.

The Shahjahanpur police has booked Chinmayanand on charges related to abduction for murder and criminal intimidation on the complaint of the girl's father.

The Supreme Court had on Monday directed the state government to set up an SIT, headed by an IG-rank officer, to investigate the charges of the woman as well as two related FIRs, and said an Allahabad High Court bench would monitor the probe.