By IANS
New Delhi : Uma Khurana, the mathematics teacher who was framed in a fake television sting operation showing her allegedly forcing girl students into prostitution, will have to stay in jail till Monday when her bail plea will be heard by a court here.
Asked whether police would now request the court to quash charges against Khurana, a senior police official who spoke on condition of anonymity said she would most likely go scot-free on bail.
“She is most likely to get bail possibly because of no evidence against her, and also she can’t influence the other witnesses as the reporter and freelance journalist have already been arrested,” the official added.
The police have decided not to oppose the bail plea. They could not cancel all charges against Khurana by themselves, the official added, because the matter was now in court, and the decision would have to be taken by the judiciary.
Khurana, who had been remanded in judicial custody before it was found that the TV sting was fake, was arrested due to pressure from the agitated public and officials, senior police officials admit.
The teacher in the government-run Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya at Asaf Ali road in central Delhi was arrested “under direct pressure of the public and indirect pressure from some state officials”, a senior Delhi Police official told IANS on condition of anonymity.
“We had no option except to arrest her. People blindly believe what television channels show and take action accordingly. There could have been trouble again if she had not been arrested,” the official clarified.
The arrest of Khurana last month followed the telecast of a ‘doctored’ sting operation by Live India, a private television news channel, showing her allegedly forcing girl students into prostitution.
The airing of the sting triggered large-scale violence with hundreds of angry people gathering outside the school and smashing windowpanes of the building demanding her immediate arrest. Khurana was mercilessly beaten and her clothes torn off.
The Delhi government, acting quickly on the sting report, sacked Khurana.
The Delhi Police officials later accepted that they had not found any evidence against her.
“Investigations reveal that she was framed by television reporter Prakash Singh on behalf of a businessman, Virender Arora, who had a personal enmity with Khurana,” said a police official.
“Prakash also involved Rashmi Singh, an aspiring journalist who acted as a schoolgirl in the sting,” said a senior police official investigating the matter.
“Except for the prima facie evidence (now found to be doctored) received on the tapes supplied by the news channel in which Uma is found accepting money for arranging a prostitute for the sting operator, journalist Prakash Singh, we have no other direct or indirect evidence on record against her,” the official added.
Police arrested Prakash and Rashmi on charges of cheating, fabrication of evidence and criminal conspiracy for their role in the fake sting. Prakash was arrested Friday, while Rashmi was arrested Thursday.
Rashmi was produced in court Friday, where she said she wanted to turn approver in the case. Asked about this, the police official said the prosecution had not yet decided whether to accept her offer. She was remanded in judicial custody till Sep 15.