Lucknow: Even as the conspiracy theory over the car crash involving the Unnao rape survivor spins into a major political controversy, Uttar Pradesh Police claims in hushed tones that it was a ‘mere accident’.

The woman, who had accused an Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA of rape, was travelling in a car with her family and lawyer. The car was hit by a speeding truck in Rae Bareli on Sunday, killing two members while leaving her and the advocate critically injured, police said.

The state government, which is in a defensive mode on the issue, has already said that it is prepared to recommend a CBI inquiry into the incident.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Monday the accident was “shocking”. She wondered whether any hope for justice can be expected from the ruling BJP, whose MLA Kuldeep Sengar is an accused in the rape case.

“The road accident involving the Unnao rape victim is shocking. Where has the CBI probe in this case reached?” she asked on Twitter.

“Why is the accused MLA still in the BJP? Why is there laxity in the security of the victim and the witnesses? Can you hope for any justice from the BJP government without an answer to these questions,” the Congress leader added.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that the incident was a conspiracy to kill the woman.

“Unnao and UP demand justice for the victim daughter of the abominable rape crime. But instead of justice, what has happened is a conspiracy to kill,” Surjewala tweeted. “While her father was killed in police custody, now she has lost her family and is herself battling for her life.”

Additional Director General of Police Rajiv Krishna said: “The truck was coming from Banda and was on its way to Fatehpur. It was raining heavily. The truck rammed straight into the sedan in which the rape survivor and other members were sitting. On blackening of the truck registration plate, the owner said that as the truck was taken on loan which he failed to pay back, he had put grease on the number plate to evade police action.”

The police claim that the rape survivor’s family has made it a “habit of blaming BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar for all that goes wrong with them”.

Sengar has been lodged in Sitapur jail since April 2018. The ADG said that the details of the truck owner, truck driver and cleaner were being checked to see if they had any contact with the MLA’s family members or supporters.

This is not the first time that Sengar has been blamed for the death of a witness.

Last August, Yunus, a key CBI witness in the beating of the rape survivor’s father in police custody, died last year.

Yunus owned a general merchant shop in Makhi village of Unnao and had witnessed the assault on the victim’s father.

Villagers said that Yunus suddenly fell ill and passed away within an hour even before he could be taken to the hospital for treatment. The family members buried him without informing the CBI and the police.

The rape survivor’s uncle, now in jail on forgery charges, had blamed Sengar for Yunus’ death and had even demanded that the body be exhumed for a post mortem.

Yunus’ family, however, said that he had been suffering from a liver ailment and died a natural death. They refused to allow the body to be exhumed.

The rape survivor’s family has claimed that they were being repeatedly threatened by the MLA and his men.

CBI officials investigating the case, however, said that the rape survivor and her family could never give specific incidents where they had been threatened.

Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s relatives, meanwhile, claim that the MLA is being targeted due to political rivalry in his own constituency.

“In 2002, he won the Unnao Sadar seat on a BSP ticket. This was the first time that the BSP won that seat since independence. Later, he joined Samajwadi Party, and won from Bangermau in 2007 and Bhagwant Nagar in 2012. He joined Bharatiya Janata Party in 2017 to contest the legislative election and won from Bangarmau again. If he has won elections from three different constituencies, it proves his popularity,” said one of his relatives who is also a politician.

—IANS