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DAINIK NATION BUREAU
A retired Army colonel in Noida who is engaged in a bitter spat with an additional district magistrate of the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday demanded arrest of the suspended official and alleged delay in police probe.
Colonel (retd) Virendra Pratap Singh Chauhan was arrested on August 14 on the charges of molestation levelled by the ADM’s wife, following a spat between the two sides over alleged illegal construction by the ADM’s family.
Chauhan, while in jail, had filed a counter-complaint accusing the ADM, his wife, his son and three others of assault and attempt to murder.
The episode witnessed a new twist when a CCTV footage emerged, purportedly showing the ADM and his supporters assaulting of Chauhan, who was later granted bail by the court.
“This ADM should be dismissed from the service, he is a shameless man using his wife in this case. No one, even if poor, would not do it,” Chauhan said at a press conference at the same park in Sector 29 where he was allegedly assaulted on August 14.
The 76-year-old demanded that the cases against him, including molestation and the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, be dropped immediately.
Flanked by other Army veterans, he alleged that his cook, Hairsh Lal (24), who belongs to the same community as the ADM, was also assaulted by the ADM’s acquaintances, but the police are not filing his complaint separately.
He added that the ADM and his wife should be arrested for getting this “false and disgusting” case lodged and “got me defamed across the country”.
Meanwhile, the ADM’s wife also interacted with the press in the afternoon, just minutes before the Army veteran’s conference at the same park.
She alleged that the retired colonel wanted to abduct her on the morning of August 14 and had used casteist slurs against her.
The woman accused Chauhan of harassing her over the past four years. “On the day of the incident, my husband had come to protect me. What wrong did he do by protecting his wife that he has been suspended from the service?” she asked.
She said the family had returned to their house in Sector 29 after 20 days and her children were traumatised by the whole episode. “The whole family is feeling unsafe here and we would soon relocate elsewhere.”
The woman questioned the police probe in the case and demanded that the matter be referred to the CB-CID for fair investigation.
She also told reporters that she recently met former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati to discuss the case, but had not got in touch with any ministers or officers of the government so far.
Asked about the charges levelled by the ADM’s wife, Chauhan refuted the claims. “The ADM is sitting at his home, while others named in the FIR are also roaming freely and I wonder why the police are not taking any action against him.”
Citing his military career, he remarked, “This is an insult to the Army.”
The Army veteran also claimed that the ADM’s income was disproportionate with his known sources of income,. “Three-four years ago, they bought this flat here for Rs 1.5 crore. They then got it reconstructed using imported marble and furnished it with luxurious items. They did not buy a bungalow because that would have exposed them.
“I have got to know that he owns a house in Aligarh, in Greatern Noida and have bought plots whereever they were posted. They have also purchased land worth Rs 50 crore in Jewar with a changed surname,” Chauhan alleged.
