BPCC vice president booked in minor Dalit girl sexual abuse case
Patna,(BiharTimes): One of the state Congress vice president, Brajesh Pandey, whose name figure in the Dalit girl sexual abuse case, denied his involvement. Incidentally, the victim is the daughter of a former Congress minister. Brajesh also happens to be the brother of NDTV Journalist Ravish Kumar.
Brajesh was on Monday booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for allegedly molesting the minor girl. He, along with others, was also accused of running a sex racket.
As reported by BiharTimes a car show-room owner Nikhil Priyadarshi, who is the son of a retired Jharkhand cadre IAS officer, is the main accused in the case. His brother Manish Priyadarshi and friend Sanjeet Kumar Sharma are co-accused. The case was lodged at the SC/ ST police station in Patna on December 22 last year.
CID inspector-general (weaker section) Anil Kishore Yadav, said "Brajesh's name has come in the supervision note submitted by the CID women's cell deputy superintendent of police, Mamta Kalyani, in the case. She found the charges against him to be true.
Efforts are on to track all those involved in the case.
Reports said that Nikhil's friends had allegedly blackmailed and exploited the girl. She also charged that Nikhil and his acquaintances ran a sex racket. Finally, an FIR was lodged at the SC/ST police station in Patna.
A lower court in Patna recently rejected their anticipatory bail pleas.
Brajesh had unsuccessfully contested the 2015 Assembly election from Govindganj constituency in East Champaran.
However, he was quoted in the media as saying that he had nothing to do with the incident. He said that he is in Gorakhpur for some personal work and is not absconding. He said he would be back to Patna on Feb 25.
He also alleged some BJP leaders had framed him in the case. He said that his name was neither in the FIR nor in the girl's statement recorded in front of a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Brajesh, however, accepted that he knew Nikhil and had met him over dinner three or four times and had also seen the victim at his house, but added that he had no idea about the case and came to know about it only through the media.
“That girl is like a daughter to me and I have not committed any wrong. This is a conspiracy against me. Nikhil is just an acquaintance,” he said.
Though most Congress leaders are tightlipped, one of them told BiharTimes that Brajesh’s background on this count is not good.
The girl appeared on local TV channels today and narrated her woes. She alleged that Brajesh Pandey was introduced to her as a big leader and used to threaten her with dire consequences.
She also alleged Pandey of being involved in a sex racket
