Nihal Chand Meghwal, the union minister accused by a woman of raping her three years ago, is "missing", say the police in Rajasthan. They say they don't know whether he will show up on Wednesday at a court in Jaipur that has summoned him.
The 43-year-old minister has been summoned along with 16 others in the rape case filed in June. In Delhi, asked by NDTV if he had received court summons, Mr Meghwal said, "No, I haven't."
Mr Meghwal, a minister of state, has been shifted from Chemicals and Fertilizers to Panchayati Raj, but he has not been dropped despite the controversy. He took charge of his new ministry today.
He has not been named as a suspect by the police, a fact his party, the BJP has said in his defense when opposition parties have called for his sacking.
In August, when Mr Meghwal did not appear in court, the police in his constituency Ganganagar said they could not find him to serve him summons as he has been staying in Delhi. The court then ordered the Ganganagar Superintendent of Police to make sure the minister received the court notice.
The minister visits Ganganagar frequently and on October 19, he was there to adopt a village. A lawyer representing the complainant says there is no reason for the police to not track him down.
Sources in Raisinghnagar, the minister's hometown, say he may not appear in court tomorrow.
The case of the "missing minister" has been seized by the Congress, which has asked PM Modi to explain. The party's Digvijaya Singh tweeted this morning, "Missing Minister of GOI ! Modi must respond. How can Rajasthan Govt claim that a Minister in GOI can't be traced ? Good Governance Mr Modi ?" On Monday, the Congress raised questions on many of the 21 new ministers that have joined the government.
The BJP alleges that Mr Meghwal was framed by the previous Congress government of Rajasthan.
We have heard of files going missing in government offices to save the skin of officials or ministers. But have you heard of whole ministers going missing especially when they are covered with government security. Difficult to believe, isn't it. It can only happen in the Modi government who allows his rapist minister to go into hiding.
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