CBI says Unnao accident caused due to negligence; no murder charges filed

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday night filed a chargehseet against rape-accused MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his associates in the Unnao rape victim's accident case, where two of her aunts were killed. But the agency has not filed murder charges against any of the accused.

The CBI has charged Sengar and nine of his associates with criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation with a threat to cause death or grievous hurt under Section 120(B) read with Section 506(2) of the IPC.

Further, the truck driver Ashish Kumar Paul has been charged under Sections 304(A), 338 and 279 of the IPC, which stipulate punishment for causing death by negligence not amounting to culpable homicide, causing grievous hurt and rash driving.

The Unnao rape victim, two of her aunts and her lawyer were travelling in a car which was hit by a truck in a head-on collision near Rae Bareilly district on July 28. The accident killed both the aunts and put the rape victim and her lawyer in critical condition.

At least one of the deceased in the accident was one of CBI's witnesses in the rape cases against Sengar.

The car crash turned suspicious when the truck's number plates were found to be deliberately blackened and the UP Police immediately registered a murder case against Sengar, which was transferred to the CBI by the state government within a day.

While the UP Police FIR which the CBI had taken over had initially mentioned murder charges against the accused in the case, the central agency's chargesheet, filed before the Special Judicial Magistrate in Lucknow, does not charge any of the accused with murder, effectively saying that the accident was caused due to negligence of the truck driver.

The Supreme Court had suo motu taken cognizance of the accident and directed the CBI to complete the probe as soon as possible, with the central agency pouring in extensive resources to crack the case.

The Apex Court had taken the matter up after it was reported that the Unnao rape victim's family had written a letter to the Chief Justice of India, describing how Sengar continued to use his position of power to intimidate them over the last few months.

The letter, which was sent days before the accident, had also asked that the cases be moved to Delhi for safety purposes. CJI Ranjan Gogoi had subsequently taken cognizance of the letter and trasferred the Unnao cases to Delhi for trial.

It was also found that the rape victim's family had tried to file a police complaint with regards to the criminal intimidation by Sengar and his men more than 35 times, but to no avail.