After former union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Swami Chinmayanand was sent to jail for 14 days, the law student who has accused him of rape and blackmail could also be arrested, said Special Investigation Team (SIT) sources.
The sources said that the victim has been involved in the extortion call made to Chinmayanand by her male companion, Sanjay Singh, and two cousins, Sachin Sengar and Vikram, and is named as one of the accused in the case.
The three men were arrested hours after Chinmayanand was taken into custody on Friday and sent to jail.
The sources added that the SIT was likely to inform the Supreme Court before arresting the victim since all investigations have been ordered by the apex court.
"She has been actively involved in the extortion case and we are keeping an eye on her. We will take action at the appropriate time," an SIT official said.
The three men were arrested under the IT Act and for destroying evidence and extortion, Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh had said.
All the three were produced in court and sent to judicial remand. The SIT recorded the statements of all the three, which also corroborated with the statements of Chinmayanand's staff, who disclosed to the SIT that the three intended to extort money from Chinmayanand and were trying to negotiate with them.
Chinmayanand had alleged that he was being asked to pay Rs 5 crore by some boys and the matter was linked to the allegations made by the law student.
A video showing the boys and the alleged victim talking about demanding money from the accused had gone viral on social media.
The SIT will file a status report with the Allahabad High Court on September 23 mentioning the charges against these boys.
Chinmayanand was sent to jail on September 20. ""On the direction of SC we had constituted an SIT team and after a probe, we arrested Swami Chinmayanand from his ashram and he has been sent to jail. There has been no delay in the case. We have also arrested three people over extortion threats to Swami Chinmayanand," Singh was quoted as saying by ANI after the BJP leader's arrest.
The former union minister was charged with "misusing authority for sexual intercourse" or "sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape", according to his lawyer.
The arrest came days after the law student threatened to resort to self-immolation if Chinmayanand was not arrested.
She said: "Even two days after I recorded my statement before a magistrate, Chinmayanand has not been arrested. If the government is waiting for me to die, I will sprinkle kerosene on my body and immolate myself."
