Chinmayanand case: SIT formed to probe cross FIRs
BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand not found in his ashram, police team returns from Haridwar
Lucknow, Sep 3: Acting under Supreme Court's order, the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe charges levelled by a Shahjahanpur woman against former Union minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand.
The SIT to be headed by an IG-rank police officer will look into the two cross FIRs filed in the high-profile case.
A statement issued by the UP Home Department said, "A decision has been taken by UP Chief Secretary RK Tiwari to constitute an SIT, which would be headed by a IG (Public Grievance) Naveen Arora."
Directions have also been issued by the state government to include policemen with a clean image in the probe panel.
"This SIT will ensure impartial investigation into the two cross FIRs filed in the Shahjahanpur case and also probe the allegations levelled," the statement said.
Instructions have been issued to Divisional Commissioner (Bareilly) and Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Ruhelkhand University, Bareilly, to admit the law student and her brother at Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Ruhelkhand University, Bareilly or any affiliated college.
Directions have also been issued to the Superintendent of Police, Shahjahanpur to provide adequate security to the law student, her parents and other members of her family, it said.
The move by the UP government comes a day after the Supreme Court directed it to set up an SIT, headed by an IG-rank officer, to investigate the charges levelled by the woman.
The apex court had said that an Allahabad High Court bench will monitor the probe.
The law student had gone missing after levelling allegations against Chinmayanand in a video and was later found in Rajasthan by UP police.
The apex court judges said the woman had raised certain grievances against the institution where she studied and her mother and father had some apprehensions about the safety of their children.
The top court said the Delhi Police will accompany her parents to their residence in Shahjahanpur and the woman will continue her stay in the national capital till September 12.
The matter was listed for further hearing on September 5.
The apex court had taken suo motu cognisance of the case after a group of lawyers had written a letter to the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi urging him to take up the matter.
A local police team, which had gone to former Union minister and BJP leader Chinmayanand's Haridwar ashram to question him in connection with harassment allegations levelled by a woman law student, did not find him there, police said here on Tuesday.
The Shahjahanpur police had on August 27 lodged an FIR against Chinmayanand after the student went missing following her allegation in a video clip that he had been harassing her. She also spoke about threat to her and her family's life in the video clip.
Her father had filed a complaint with police accusing Chinmayanand of sexually harassing her, a charge refuted by the BJP leader's lawyer who claimed it was a "conspiracy" to blackmail him.
The woman's father had alleged that she went missing at the behest of the 72-year-old BJP leader, who heads Mumukshu ashram. She is a post-graduate student in one of the colleges run by the ashram.
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Thumbay Group begins work on Sharjah’s first private integrated psychiatric, rehabilitation hospital
Sharjah: Thumbay Group has laid the foundation stone for the Thumbay Psychiatric and Rehabilitation Hospital at Sharjah Healthcare City, a 120-bed facility that the company says will be the region’s first private, fully integrated hospital dedicated to psychiatric care, neuro-rehabilitation and addiction recovery.
The groundbreaking ceremony was led by Dr. Abdelaziz Saeed Al Mheiri, who is also a member of the Sharjah Executive Council, in the presence of Dr. Thumbay Moideen.
Spread across 110,000 square feet, the hospital is being developed to address growing demand for specialised mental health and rehabilitation services in the UAE and the wider Gulf region.
The facility will include inpatient and outpatient services in psychiatry, neuro-rehabilitation, addiction treatment, child and adolescent mental health, and care for mood and anxiety disorders. It will also feature VIP inpatient villas designed to provide privacy and support long-term recovery.
A mosque, named the Thumbay Masjid, will be constructed within the campus and will be open to the public.
The hospital is being designed to meet standards for Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), an internationally recognised accreditation system for rehabilitation facilities.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Abdelaziz Saeed Al Mheiri said the project reflects Sharjah’s commitment to strengthening healthcare infrastructure in all aspects of wellbeing.
“Mental health and rehabilitation have long needed dedicated infrastructure, and we are proud to support a private partner whose vision matches the ambition of this Emirate,” he said.
Dr. Thumbay Moideen said the project was a response to a growing need for specialised mental healthcare services in the region.
“We have spent over three decades building healthcare in this region, and the one conversation that has grown louder every year is mental health. Families have been carrying this quietly for too long. This hospital is our answer. It is purpose-built, not retrofitted, and it has been designed around dignity, recovery, and outcomes that families can trust,” he said.
Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2026, and the hospital is expected to become operational by mid-2027.
Once completed, the facility will become part of Thumbay Group’s network of healthcare, education and diagnostic institutions across the UAE.
