The Ruby Choudhary case has taken a new turn with the Special Investigation Team (SIT), tasked by the State police to probe into the case, grilling the lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (lBSNAA) deputy director and academy course director Saurabh Jain late night on Thursday for around four hours in the campus premises.
Police sources said Jain denied any knowledge of the woman who stayed clandestinely for around seven months posing as an IAS probationer on the campus. Sources said Jain denied having known Ruby during the interrogation. When the SIT member asked that he had figured in a video footage along with Ruby, Jain replied that he had met her only once in the academy.
Besides, fifteen more academy officials were also grilled, it is understood. When asked why Ruby had mentioned his name, in particular, in her recorded statement, Jain said he had been framed maliciously. “He is being targeted because he is the academy's course director in-charge- a key post in the academy hierarchy." Jain is understood to have said.
It is learnt that the SIT team had asked him around 30 pointed questions -all based on the evidences collected by the team over the past 15 days. His statement was recorded by the team. The SIT told him that the grilling process would continue. State Director General of Police (DGP) Sidhu claimed that the SIT investigation is on the right track.
He further said Ruby's police remand had proved productive for the case. “The team is presently verifying the recorded statement of Jain and others in the light of the available evidences collected painstakingly," he said, adding, "Jain might be questioned again." Police sources said the SIT had recovered a diary used by Ruby to jot down things. It would be verified whether she had noted down things straight from the IAS training classes. Also, the team had recovered the project report to be submitted by Ruby to the academy. "It seems as though she attended classes too, masquerading as an IAS probationer," sources revealed.
Ruby's advocate said that he would file a bail application in the court soon. Moreover, members of some social organisations had slammed the academy authority for suspending the security guard Dev Singh on charge of dereliction of duty. “He is a small fry and he is being used by the higher ups as an instrument to shrug off blame from them. There should be an independent inquiry to fix responsibility. Making poor persons the scapegoat to shield the guilty would defeat the purpose for which the probe team has been formed," they added.
14 days judicial remand for imposter
The SIT brought Ruby Choudhary from Suddhowala jail to the court where she was presented on Friday. The administration has made elaborate security arrangements in the campus. Police said the court has sent her for judicial remand of 14 days. Moreover, the court has given permission to SIT to de-seal the materials recovered during investigation. Earlier, the SIT had sealed materials recovered during its probe.
Police sources revealed that she had named Jain in her statement that had been recorded under section 164 of CrPC before the judicial magistrate on Wednesday. She was also learnt to have stated that she had given Jain Rs5 lakh while Jain had asked her to shell out Rs20 lakh for a job in the academy's library.
librarian to be questioned again
The SIT will further question the Academy librarian regarding 40 books recovered in the course of the investigation of the Ruby Choudhary case. This is in addition to the 18 books the SIT had earlier recovered from the place where Ruby Choudhary used to stay when in Meerut.
Police sources said that regarding these 18 books, the SIT had earlier questioned the librarian. No record was found in the library's register about these missing books. When quizzed by the probe team, the librarian was understood to have said he did not know anything about these books. However, things grew murkier when SIT had recovered 40 more academy books from the room where Ruby stayed in the academy campus. The SIT may further question the librarian regarding these 40 academy library books recovered from the room Ruby stayed in the campus.
