Lucknow: A team of city police on Sunday arrested Prof Rajendra Bihari Lal, the vice-chancellor of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology, and Sciences (SHUATS) from the campus in connection with a case registered at Naini police station under IPC’s sections 307 (attempt to murder), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 427 (committing mischief and damage).
The FIR was lodged by Khuldabad resident D N Tripathi, who alleged that he and his friend had a narrow escape when they were attacked with firearms by Lal and two others, near Arail road on Sunday. Established in 1910, SHUATS is a government-aided minority institution in Prayagraj.
Yamuna Nagar SP Abhinav Tyagi said, “As many as 26 cases are registered against Lal in different police stations of the state, including Prayagraj, Lucknow, Hamirpur, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh districts and CBI (SCB).” The first case against Lal was registered in 2014 with Cantt police station here.
The SP said Lal was taken to a local court to be produced before the remand magistrate.
The SHUATS vice-chancellor was arrested from a guest house located on the university campus when he was holding a meeting with a group of teachers who were demanding their salary arrears.
Earlier this month, the Allahabad high court had refused to quash an FIR lodged against the SHUATS VC other higher officials, who were accused of persuading a woman to adopt Christianity by offering her a job and other allurement and also sexually exploiting her.
Disposing of a writ petition filed by SHUATS VC Rajendra Bihari Lal, director Vinod Bihari Lal and four others, a division bench comprising Justice Rahul Chaturvedi and Justice Mohd Azhar Husain Idrisi on December 11 observed, “No god or true church or temple or mosque would approve such type of malpractices. If someone on his own has chosen to get him converted to a different religion is totally another aspect of the issue. In the instant case, prevailing upon a tender mind of a young girl providing gifts, clothing and other physical amenities and then asking her to get baptised is an unpardonable sin.”
In her FIR dated November 4, lodged under section 376D (gang rape) and other sections of IPC and also under the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 and Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956 at Bewar police station of Hamirpur district, the survivor alleged that she was regularly subjected to sexual exploitation by the accused-petitioners, including SHUATS VC, and she was persuaded and pressured to bring other women for conversion and other illegal works.
While refusing to quash the FIR, the court said that the allegations levelled in the FIR are extremely serious and horrifying.
