Retired colonel arrested on false molestation complaint, gets bail

NEW DELHI: A retired Army officer, who was arrested on the complaint of the wife of an additional district magistrate (ADM) that she was molested and hurled caste-based abuses in Sector 29, was granted bail by a court.nnThe release of 76-year-old retired Colonel, Virendra Pratap Singh Chauhan, comes a day after the police arrested two persons, including the ADM’s gunner and an aide, on charges of assaulting and attempting to murder the ex-armyman.nn”He (Chauhan) has been granted the bail by the court hearing the case on charges registered against him under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,” Colonel (retd) Shashi Vaid, who campaigned for his release, said.nn”He is OK now. He has come back and met his family after a tiring day in the court. He has not gone home and is staying at a guest house in Arun Vihar,” Vaid told PTI.nnMeanwhile, the officials of the Sector 20 police station, where the case is registered, said further probe was underway in the case.nnChauhan was arrested on the morning on August 14 from a park near his home in Sector 29 following a spat between the two sides over alleged illegal construction by the ADM’s family.nnHe was accused of molestation and hurling caste-based abuses by the ADM’s wife. She then called up police, which arrived at the spot and arrested Mr Chauhan.nnThe ADM’s family lives on the third floor of a building, in which he lives on the ground floor, Mr Chauhan, who served in the elite 1 Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), had said.nn”The ADM was getting some construction done to convert his car garage, near my house, into a guest house. It was illegal and not permitted by the Noida Authority. I had raised objection against it because it was also obstructing the passage, sunlight and air flow into my house,” he had said in the complaint, adding that had irked the family.nnHe had claimed that the ADM has previously served in the Noida authority and used his influence to get his complaint overlooked.nnIn a complaint to the police from jail, Mr Chauhan had said, “On the morning of August 14, I was sitting in the park waiting for my taxi to go to railway station from where he would go to Agra when the family arrived, they were accompanied by the ADM’s gunners also. His wife started hurling abuses at me and soon all the men started punching me on the chest and kicked me.”nn”The woman soon called up the emergency police who arrived at the spot and arrested me on false charges of molestation made by her and under the ADM’s pressure,” Chauhan alleged in the complaint.nnA couple of days later, the footage of the closed-circuit television camera installed in the park emerged in which it was purportedly seen that Chauhan was being assaulted by the seven persons.nnDistrict Magistrate Brajesh Narayan Singh had taken note of the video and instructed the police to file an FIR against the ADM and others involved in the matter.nnThe police then booked the seven persons, including the ADM, his wife and son, among others for attempt to murder and other relevant sections of assault.nnOne of the ADM’s gunners Rahul Nagar, 28, and his household help Jitendra Awasthi, 26, were arrested yesterday, the police said.nnSeveral Army veterans and the family of  Chauhan had taken out a protest march in sector 29 on Saturday demanding his immediate release and the arrest of the accused.