Former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand was arrested from his ashram today by the Uttar Pradesh Special Investigation Team days after the law student, who had alleged rape, recorded her statement in front of the magistrate.

The 72 years old BJP leader was taken for medical examination in a Shahjahanpur hospital amidst heavy security soon after the arrest. He will be produced before a Magistrate within the first 24 hours as required by the Criminal Procedure Code 1973.

The 23 year old law student had threatened to set herself ablaze if government didn’t take an action even after her statement to the Magistrate.

The Supreme Court had previously ordered a probe by SIT in the allegations on him and further asked the Allahabad HC to track the probe. The arrest comes three days ahead of the Allahabad High Court hearing in the case.

Chinmayanand has been consistently denying these allegations in the media, calling the whole affair a conjecture of political conspiracy against him.

— India Legal Bureau