In the month of April-May in the year 1992, Nude photos of high-profile students from a famous girls college in Ajmer began spreading in the city all of a sudden. Not one or two, but over 100 images of female students went viral as a result of this. In Rajasthan, there was a sex scandal of blackmailing that shook the entire country. The females who fell into this trap were not poor; they came from well-off families.
Criminals have a lot of political influence. Despite this, the law sentenced ten of the scandal’s perpetrators to prison. The ultimate judgement, however, is still pending. Due to a lack of police, this case could not come to a conclusion. The charge sheet against the six defendants in this case is still being argued in court.
1. Rape was Pre-Planned
The accused befriended the son of a businessman. He physically abused him and took pictures. Then by blackmailing the businessman’s son, he asked him to bring his girlfriend to the poultry farm. Then the accused raped the girl, took her nude pictures from the reel camera. He also forced his girlfriend to bring more of her friends there. He raped every girl, also offered to his friends to rape them and did nude photoshoots. With photos, other girls were blackmailed too and were called to different places.
2. Nude pictures got spread like fire
Nude got spread into the market, seeing the nude pictures, the intention of one of the lab employees got spoiled. Through them, the pictures came to the market. Whoever got these pictures, also started blackmailing the girls. Master prints were with only a few people, but their Xerox copies started circulating in the city. Meanwhile, one by one, 6 college girls committed suicide.
3. Congress Youth President & more influential names came to forth
Ajmer City Youth Congress President, Vice President and Joint Secretary along with the names of some influential people came to the front. The masterminds of the case were Ajmer Youth Congress president Farooq Chisti, Nafees Chishti and Anwar Chishti. As soon as the names of the influential people came, the police started suppressing the case.
A newspaper published the story with these pictures. There was uproar in the whole city. Seeing the matter deteriorating, the then Bhairon Singh Shekhawat government of Rajasthan gave the investigation to CID-CB.
4. 18 Accused were investigated
Initially, 18 accused Harish Dolani (manager of Color Lab), Farooq Chishti (then Youth Congress President), Nafees Chishti (then Youth Congress Vice President), Anwar Chishti (then Youth Congress Joint Secretary), Purushottam alias Babli (Lab Developer), Iqbal Bhati, Kailash Soni, Salim Chishti, Sohail Ghani, Jamir Hussain, Almas Maharaj, Ishrat Ali, Moizullah alias Pootan Allahabadi, Parvez Ansari, Naseem alias Tarzan, Mahesh Lodani (owner of Color Lab), Shamsu alias Maradona (driver), Zaur Chishti (Local Politician) was investigated.
5. Most of the offenders absconded
Accused Naseem alias Tarjan absconded after getting interim bail. Later in 2010, he was caught by the police. Main accused Farooq Chishti was declared mentally ill after illness name ‘schizophrenia’. Farooq Chishti was also sentenced on February 1, 2007.
One of the accused was accused of different nature under section 377. Due to this, he too escaped from this case and the trial went on separately. 16 victims are on record in court. The first judgment of the case came on 18 May 1998. 8 out of 12 convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Court said that, the victims, who have been presented as evidence in the court, have turned away due to their family and social reasons. They don’t want to make a statement. In view of the seriousness of this case, whose statement has been recorded, the same has been considered as the statement on behalf of all the victims
6. One accused found in buqa, some got bailed
Iqbal Bhati was caught after almost 13 years in 2005. Came off on bail. Salim Chishti was caught in a burqa in 2012 after almost 20 years. Came off on bail. Nafees was caught almost 11 years later in 2003. Came off on bail. Naseem alias Tarzan was caught after almost 18 years in 2010. Jamir Hussain also got anticipatory bail. Sohail Gani Chishti surrendered after nearly 26 years on 15 December 2018. He also came out on bail. Almas Maharaj, an accused in this case, is absconding till date. A red corner notice is issued against him.
Court said that it is not understood how the then DIG Omendra Bharadwaj gave a statement in the media before the investigation that the character of these girls is not proper. The state government should investigate this.
The police did not present the supplementary challan in the court. The police was to produce a supplementary challan after the completion of the investigation. Due to this, the witnesses had to come again and again to testify in the court. The witnesses whose statements were taken earlier could be used for hearing in the court after the arrest of the accused. In such a situation, the witnesses do not have to come to the court again and again for every accused and the case does not drag on for so long.
Virendra Singh Rathod, Assistant – Director Prosecution, Ajmer
The Red Corner Notice is renewed from time to time. The accused Syed Almas Maharaj is absconding for a long time. A red corner notice is issued against him. In such a situation, when the accused is found or any information is received regarding him, he will be detained and arrested, said Vikas Sharma, SP, Ajmer.