BSP MP acquitted in one case, to remain in jail

Rai was accused of conspiring an attack on the police team. Trial against 16, including Rai was completed, after which special judge MP-MLA court Siyaram Chaurasia acquitted them for lack of evidence.

Varanasi:The MP/MLA Court of Varanasi has acquitted jailed Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP from Mau, Atul Rai, and 15 more accused persons in a case of conspiring murderous attack on a police team in the city in 2011. Rai is currently lodged in the Naini jail of Prayagraj. Though he has been recently acquitted in rape and other cases, he is still behind bars as two cases are pending in different courts.

Rai's advocate Anuj Yadav said, "Atul Rai and 19 other persons had been accused in a case lodged by the then Station Officer of Varanasi's Cantonment police station Sunil Verma in August 2011. Rai was accused of conspiring an attack on the police team. The file of three accused persons had been separated while one file of an accused was closed after his death. Trial against 16, including Rai was completed, after which special judge MP-MLA court Siyaram Chaurasia acquitted them for lack of evidence."

The court also ordered to send its directive to the Principal Secretary (Home) to initiate departmental action against the Investigation Officer of the case, Gayasuddin, who was retired from service, for including names of Rai and two other persons, accused in the case without any evidence. As per details of the incident, Verma on August 27, 2011, was busy patrolling with his team when he noticed some armed persons on three motorcycles and a jeep on Soyepur-Bhaktnagar-Kali Mandir Road. The Police tried to intercept them but the armed miscreants opened fire at the police team.

Following an exchange of fire, police nabbed seven miscreants, including Bachcha Yadav, Shishu Shiv Kumar, Shyam Prasad Soni, Deepak Singh, Vikas Singh, Rajnish Singh and Randhir Kumar Singh and recovered six pistols, revolvers and live cartridges from them. Later, with the progress of the investigation, names of gangsters, including Rai, Abhishek alias Honey, Jhunna Pandit, Sujit Belva, Ajay and others were included. Earlier, on August 5, the court of special judge (MP-MLA) Siyaram Chaurasia had acquitted Rai in a rape case.

The girl committed suicide near Supreme Court (SC) in New Delhi in August 2021 along with the prime witness. As per police records, Rai had 21 criminal cases on his criminal history sheet and was booked under the Gangster Act in 2009, 2011 and again in October 2021. Following acquittal in the rape case, on September 14, 2022, Rai was sent on judicial remand by the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (MP-MLA) in a case of abetment of suicide.

He was made a co-accused in the case lodged against former Bhelupur Circle Officer Amaresh Baghel after the girl, who had lodged a rape case against Rai, committed suicide near the SC premises. Rai had landed in trouble when a girl lodged an FIR against him on April 26, 2019, with Lanka police in Varanasi accusing that he raped her repeatedly and threatened to make a video of the act viral on social media.

This case was lodged at a time when Rai was contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the Ghosi seat on a BSP ticket. He won the election as an 'absconding' candidate and surrendered before a Varanasi court later. Since June 22, 2019, he is in Naini jail of Prayagraj. (IANS)

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