CBI gets two more weeks to probe Unnao victim’s accident

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 19

The Supreme Court today gave the Central Bureau of Investigation two more weeks to complete the probe into the road accident in which the Unnao rape victim and her lawyer were critically injured and two of her family members killed.

“We find that the CBI has done extensive investigation but some loose ends need to be tied up,” a Bench headed by Justice Deepak Gupta said while extending the time.

It also directed the Uttar Pradesh Government to pay Rs 5 lakh to the lawyer who is undergoing treatment after amicus curiae V Giri said he was still in a critical condition even after having been shifted to AIIMS, Delhi. The amount can be adjusted against the compensation finally decided, it added.

Earlier, it had ordered the state government to pay an interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the victim.

The victim was a minor when allegedly raped by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in 2017. She is battling for life after a truck rammed into the car she was travelling in with some family members and her lawyer. Two of her aunts died in the accident. She was airlifted from a Lucknow hospital and shifted to AIIMS but the victim’s condition remained critical.

The court, which had earlier given two weeks to the CBI to complete the probe, extended it to September 6 after the agency sought four more weeks to complete the probe.

The top court had on August 2 directed the CBI to complete the probe within seven days, adding the agency could avail additional seven days in exceptional circumstances. It had transferred of all five related cases in the matter to Delhi but later modified its order putting in abeyance shifting of the accident case till the probe was completed.