The Central Bureau of Investigation is conducting searches at the home of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and other accused in connection with the Unnao car crash, PTI reported on Sunday. Searches are under way at at least 17 premises in four districts of Uttar Pradesh – Lucknow, Banda, Unnao and Fatehpur, the agency said.

Sengar, who is accused of raping a teenager, is suspected of having orchestrated the car crash in which she and her lawyer were critically injured and two of her aunts died. In an FIR filed by her family after the incident, they had said that the MLA was kept informed about the teenager’s whereabouts. One of the woman’s aunts who died was a witness in the rape case.

Sengar has been in jail since April 2018 in connection with the rape case. He was expelled from the BJP on August 1. The CBI had booked Sengar, nine others and some unidentified persons for murder.

The CBI has taken over the inquiry into the car accident. The Supreme Court has given the agency two weeks to finish the inquiry. The court had also ordered Central Reserve Police Force security for the complainant’s family, and Rs 25-lakh compensation to be given to them from the Uttar Pradesh government. The woman’s security detail who had been assigned to be with her had not travelled with her on the day of the car crash. Three of them were suspended later.

The complainant, who was injured, has reportedly developed pneumonia and is in a serious condition. Her lawyer, who was travelling with her, has been taken off ventilator support and has showed signs of improvement, but is still unconscious.