In an affidavit filed before the Bombay High Court on Wednesday, industrialist Niranjan Hiranandani denied being involved in suppressing gang-rape evidence of a woman belonging to Scheduled Caste. He claimed he was being framed and that the allegations against him were “patently scurrilous, exaggerated and unfounded.”
“The petitioner is trying to frame me to enable her to continue her nefarious land-grabbing activities, which continue unabated till today,” he said. He claimed the rape story was concocted and fabricated with the sole purpose of grabbing land. The petitioner claimed that she was raped at the behest of the builder and industrialist.
After the petition was filed, the High Court transferred the probe to Mumbai Crime Branch, observing that the issues raised in the petition were of serious nature.
The petitioner, alleged that she was raped by three persons including two policemen at a community temple in Powai. She claimed that Mr. Hiranandani was trying to forcibly evacuate them from the land in question at Jai Bhim Nagar.
“Mr. Hiranandani along with his hirelings with a view to dispossess and throw away the poor and illiterate occupants of the said area are adopting all the pressure tactics and creating terror with the money and muscle power,” the petition claimed.
The woman alleged that she was raped by the senior police inspector of Powai police station and two others at a community temple on June 14 morning. She claimed that she was called to the community temple by Y L Jadhav, senior police inspector of Powai police station, and that he was in an inebriated condition when she reached there.
After being gang-raped, she went to the police station, where they refused to register her complaint or send her for medical examination despite repeated requests, the woman alleged.
The allegations have been denied by Mr. Hiranandani.