‘Owner of truck that rammed rape survivor’s car is Samajwadi Party worker’: BJP turns tables on Opposition on conspiracy charge

Two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs from Uttar Pradesh have claimed that the truck that hit the car in which Unnao rape survivour, her family members and lawyer were travelling on Sunday afternoon in Rae Bareli belonged to a Samajwadi Party leader. Speaking on the floor of the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, BJP MP from Fatehpur and MoS for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti claimed that the truck belonged to a worker of the Samajwadi Party. “The truck owner is a local of Fatehpur. He is also a worker of the Samajwadi Party. The SP is trying to shield him and therefore spoiling the image of the BJP,” she said.

BJP MP from Domariyaganj, Jagdambika Pal, too claimed that the truck that hit the car belonged to a Samajwadi Party leader. He also alleged that the Congress and other opposition parties were trying to tarnish the image of the BJP. “The way Congress has raised a state subject and tried defame the Yogi government… they are misleading the country. The truck belonged to the Samajwadi Party worker Awadh Pal Singh. The SP was demanding a CBI probe and now the CM has been recommended,” he said.

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday witnessed vociferous protests and sloganeering by opposition parties including the Congress, Samajwadi Party and BSP over Sunday’s incident on NH-31. The opposition, in attempts to pin down the government on the matter, demanded that Home Minister Amit Shah make a statement in the Lok Sabha on the tragedy. Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said it was shameful and demanded adequate security for the victim’s family.

The ruling BJP members asserted that the Uttar Pradesh government is taking steps to ensure justice for the girl and urged the Opposition not to politicise the issue. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the state government was doing everything to ensure justice to the victim.

Meanwhile, the Centre on Tuesday handed over the case to the CBI. Two of the girl’s aunts were killed in the accident while her lawyer suffered serious injuries. The girl and lawyer are undergoing treatment at the King George Medical University hospital in Lucknow, Their condition is said to be stable now.

Doctors said that the girl sustained multiple fractures and CT scan conducted on her has revealed no head injury. Her condition is stable and doctors are monitoring her situation round the clock. The victim, however, is still on a ventilator, KGMU’s Trauma Centre in-charge, Dr Sandeep Tiwari, said.

BJP MLA from Bangarmau in Unnao, Kuldeep Singh Sengar, is the prime accused in the case. The crime had taken place in 2017 but a case was filed in April 2018 after the victim attempted to immolate herself outside Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence in Lucknow. Sengar is currently behind the bars in Sitapur.