BJP leaders named in Chinmayanand extortion case  

BJP leaders DP Singh Rathore and Ajit Singh have been named as accused by the Special Investigation Team that is probing the alleged sexual harassment and also the extortion case involving former Union minister Chinmayanand.

D P Singh Rathore on Sunday was questioned for over 12 hours over his suspected role in the extortion bid case lodged by Chinmayanand.

Rathore is the chairman of the district cooperative bank and was present in Dausa, Rajasthan, when Shahjahanpur crime branch team found the 23-year-old student near Mehandipur Balaji Temple on August 30 after she went missing on August 24.

The SIT had taken Rathore's laptop and a pen drive which is believed to contain some video clips related to the whole incident.

The law student, in her complaint, had mentioned that one Ajit Singh had taken the pen drive from her, which contained the evidence to prove her claims of exploitation.

The SIT officials said on Tuesday that vulgar and sexually explicit videos had been found in the video and pen drive of the BJP leader.

Chinmayanand has been booked under various sections while the law student who had accused Chinmayanand of sexual harassment has been booked for extortion along with her male companions Sanjay Sachin and Vikram.

Rathore said at that time he was accompanied by another BJP leader, Ajit Singh, who is the brother in-law of Vikram, one of the accused in the extortion case.

SIT chief Naveen Arora said that D.P. Singh and Ajit Singh were present in Dausa in Rajasthan when the law student was staying and was involved in the extortion attempt.

"Rathore and Ajit later started demanding money from Chinmayanand in return for his videos. Their names are now being included in the extortion case," he said.