Chautala’s allegations in Ruchika case false: Bhajan Lal

NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH - Former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal Friday refuted arch rival Om Prakash Chautala’s allegations that he had shielded retired top cop S.P.S. Rathore in the molestation case of teenaged tennis player Ruchika Girhotra.

Chautala made him DGP (director general of police). His allegations are totally false. He (Chautala) is wrong, Bhajan Lal told news channels.

Earlier in the day Chautala, also a former chief minister of Haryana, blamed Bhajan Lal for shielding Rathore.

It was during the Bhajan Lal and Bansi Lal governments that Rathore was promoted, not ours,” Chautala had told reporters in New Delhi.

Bhajan Lal’s son and Haryana Janhit Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi also countered Chautala’s allegations.

“The Aug 12, 1990 incident and most of the other things like harassment of the family happened between 1990 and 1991. Chautala’s government was in power during this time. My father’s (Bhajan Lal’s) government came later.

Chautala and Rathore were one. We demand a reopening of the case and a case should be registered against the police officials who registered false cases against Ruchika’s brother and those who mistreated her family, Bishnoi said.

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Chandigarh had Monday held Rathore, former Haryana director general of police (DGP), guilty of molesting 14-year-old Ruchika in Panchkula town Aug 12, 1990 and sentenced him to a six-month prison term. The budding tennis player had committed suicide three years after the incident.