Noida: Retired colonel, held on molestation complaint of ADM's wife, gets bail

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A retired Army officer, who was arrested on the complaint of the wife of an additional district magistrate (ADM) that she was molested and hurled caste-based abuses in Sector 29 here, was granted bail by a court today.

The release of 76-year-old retired Colonel, Virendra Pratap Singh Chauhan, comes a day after the police arrested two persons, including the ADM's gunner and an aide, on charges of assaulting and attempting to murder the ex-armyman.

"He (Chauhan) has been granted the bail by the court hearing the case on charges registered against him under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act," Colonel (retd) Shashi Vaid, who campaigned for his release, said.

"He is OK now. He has come back and met his family after a tiring day in the court. He has not gone home and is staying at a guest house in Arun Vihar," Vaid told PTI tonight.

Meanwhile, the officials of the Sector 20 police station, where the case is registered, said further probe was underway in the case.

Chauhan was arrested on the morning on August 14 from a park near his home in Sector 29following a spat between the two sides over alleged illegal construction by the ADM's family.

He was accused of molestation and hurling caste-based abuses by the ADM's wife. She then called up police, which arrived at the spot and arrested Chauhan.

The ADM's family lives on the third floor of a building, in which he lives on the ground floor, Chauhan, who served in the elite 1 Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), had said.

"The ADM was getting some construction done to convert his car garage, near my house, into a guest house. It was illegal and not permitted by the Noida Authority. I had raised objection against it because it was also obstructing the passage, sunlight and air flow into my house," he had said in the complaint, adding that had irked the family.

He had claimed that the ADM has previously served in the Noida authority and used his influence to get his complaint overlooked.

In a complaint to the police from jail, Chauhan had said, "On the morning of August 14, I was sitting in the park waiting for my taxi to go to railway station from where he would go to Agra when the family arrived, they were accompanied by the ADM's gunners also. His wife started hurling abuses at me and soon all the men started punching me on the chest and kicked me."