Rape-accused SP leader Prajapati arrested, sent to 14-day custody

LUCKNOW:Police arrested former Uttar Pradesh minister and rape suspect Gayatri Prasad Prajapati from Lucknow on Wednesday morning, roughly two weeks after the Samajwadi Party (SP) leader went missing.

Prajapati was booked on a Supreme Court directive and an FIR was lodged on February 17 against the minister and six others for allegedly gangraping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter. He has been remanded to 14-day judicial custody. A look-out notice and a non-bailable warrant was issued against Prajapati. His passport too was impounded and airports across the country were alerted.

Sources said Prajapati himself turned up before police after the noose was tightened around him by detaining his son Anurag and nephew Surendra from Amethi on Tuesday. Inspector general (IG) of police, Lucknow zone, A Satish Ganesh said Prajapati was hiding at different locations in Haryana and West Bengal for the last 15 days. Before fleeing the state, he was hiding at various locations in Lucknow, Amethi, Kanpur and Allahabad, he added. In the justconcluded assembly elections, Prajapati lost from Amethi, the seat he held, to the BJP. He was also used by the former minister to undercut the SP’s election campaign and alleged that Akhilesh wasn’t serious about apprehending criminals. A 35-year-old woman had accused Prajapati of raping her when she met him three years ago. He is also accused of taking obscene photos of the victim and threatening her of making the pictures public and raping her for the past two years.