Man gets bail in ‘rape’ case after minister’s PA posts bond

Lebon Boje (32), who hails from Itanagar, was arrested on January 7 and remanded in custody till Wednesday.

A man hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, who was arrested on the charge of raping a relative, was granted bail on Wednesday on surety given by the personal assistant to the Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju.

Lebon Boje (32), who hails from Itanagar, was arrested on January 7 and remanded in custody till Wednesday. He was granted bail by the court of Additional Sessions Judge Vimal Kumar Yadav on the grounds that the victim had written to the police commissioner, claiming that she had lodged a “false complaint”.

Vinay Pandey, the man who stood surety for Lebon, according to the surety bond submitted to the court, is Rijiju’s PA. When contacted by Newsline, the office of MOS Home said Lebon was not related to Rijiju in any way.

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Pandey said he was approached by “some friends in Arunachal Bhawan” to act as surety for Lebon. He denied any knowledge of a relationship between the accused and the BJP.

According to the FIR, the woman had been staying with Lebon’s family near Safdarjung Enclave since last year. On January 7, Lebon came to her room in the morning and sexually assaulted her. Lebon was arrested the same day. The court in its bail order, however, noted that the victim had continued to stay in the same house and had also tried to withdraw her complaint.

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