Ajmer sex scandal accused remanded in judicial custody

Ajmer: Saiyed Saleem Chishty, arrested on Tuesday in connection with the infamous 1992 Ajmer sex scandal case in which over 100 schoolgirls were blackmailed with their photographs in compromising positions, was remanded in two-day police custody by a court here on Wednesday, officials said.

"Chishty was produced in the court of additional chief judicial magistrate on Wednesday. The court has remanded him in judicial custody till Jan 5," a senior police officer told IANS.

The state police's Special Operations Group (SOG) arrested Chishty, 42, from Khalid Mohalla in Ajmer town, some 150 km from Jaipur. Chishty was allegedly part of about 18 blackmailers who sexually abused over 100 school girls.

"Three people are still at large in the case and are suspected to be hiding at some location abroad. Chishty will be quizzed about their whereabouts during his remand period," the officer said.

"Chishty is an accused in the 1992 case of blackmailing some school girls in Ajmer. The victims were lured into coming to farm houses on the outskirts of the town at different times. They were sexually exploited and their photographs taken in compromising positions," Additional Director General of Police (SOG) Kapil Garg told reporters.

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The girls were then blackmailed on the basis of these photographs and forced to repeatedly visit the farm houses. "Chishty, who was one of the men who blackmailed these girls, carried a cash reward of Rs 25,000 for his capture. We came to know that he was hiding in Ajmer. A trap was laid and he was nabbed on Tuesday morning," said the officer.

Eleven others have already been arrested in the case. Seven of them were sentenced to life imprisonment by a court, the officer said.

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"Chishty has told us that he was hiding in Bangladesh and Mumbai before he came to Ajmer recently. He has been booked under various section of IPC (Indian Penal Code) and the Indecent Representation of Women Act," said the officer.