In the case of a girl student allegedly recording videos in the hostel washroom at Chandigarh University in Mohali, the Punjab police on Saturday arrested an army personnel in Arunachal Pradesh on charges of blackmailing her. The student and two men from her native state Himachal Pradesh have already been arrested.
There were massive protests on the campus of the private university, about 20 km outside of Chandigarh, after the matter came to light last Saturday.
Punjab police chief Gaurav Yadav today said a team from Mohali arrested the soldier, Sanjeev Singh, after tracking "forensic and digital evidence" gathered from devices seized from the other arrested accused. Army and local police, besides cops from neighbouring Assam, helped.
Rumours of other girls' videos being in circulation had fueled the protests, but the police had said the arrested girl sent only her own video to a friend. The net has since widened, and police are probing if she was blackmailed into recording and sharing videos.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had set up a three-member all-woman Special Investigation Team (SIT) as rival parties accused the AAP of not taking the matter seriously enough.
The army personnel's arrest today was made from Sela Pass in Arunachal, said the DGP, adding, "We got two-day transit remand from the local court and will now produce him before a magistrate in Mohali."
He tweeted a photo of the arrested soldier with police and army authorities.
"The SIT(headed by SP Rupinder Kaur Bhatti with DSPs Rupinder Kaur and Deepika Singh as members) has been conducting speedy investigations in the case. The guilty will not be spared," a note by the DGP office said.
The case registered on September 18 has sections related to sexual harassment and distribution of obscene content.
A senior army official said "all possible assistance was extended" to the police to arrest the soldier "immediately on receipt of information".
"Indian Army practices zero tolerance of such acts and will continue to provide all assistance for early conclusion of investigation," the officer added.
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