Prajapati’s son, nephew detained

LUCKNOW: The state police on Tuesday tightened the noose around high-profile rape accused Gayatri Prajapati by arresting his three close aides from Lucknow’s Alambagh area.

To mount pressure on Prajapati, who was minister for mining in the outgoing SP government, the police also detained his son Anurag Prajapati and nephew Surendra after picking them up from Amethi.

The duo has allegedly helped the accused in evading arrest, said police. While cops are quizzing them at Gautampalli police station here about Prajapati’s probable location, sources said his second son Anil was also on police radar.

A woman from Chitrakoot had accused Prajapati and six of his aides of gang-raping her and attempting to rape her minor daughter.

“Those arrested on Tuesday included senior PCS officer TP Verma’s son Vikas Verma, minister’s personal secretary Rupeshwar alias Rupesh and minister’s representative in Amethi Amrendra Singh alias Pintu Singh,” said Manzil Saini, SSP, Lucknow. The police were searching for them since the case was lodged with Gautampalli police on February 18.

The case was registered in compliance with a Supreme Court order to conduct an inquiry into the complainant’ s allegations and submit an action taken report to the court within eight weeks.

The minister’s three other aides, who are also co-accused in the case, had already been arrested on March 6 and are in judicial custody since then. The UP Special Task Force (STF) had arrested two of them, Ashok Tewari and Ashish Shukla, from Jewar toll plaza on Noida Expressway late on the night of March 6. The minister’s security personnel Chanderpal was arrested in Lucknow when he turned up to deposit his service revolver on March 6.

AN OFFICIAL SAID PRAJAPATI’S MOBILE LOCATION WAS FOUND WITH TEWARI AND SHUKLA BUT HE LEFT THEM ONLY AN HOUR BEFORE THEIR ARREST

An STF official said Prajapati’s last mobile location was found with Tewari and Shukla but he left them only an hour before their arrest. Shukla revealed during interrogation that Prajapati had left for Allahabad to seek stay on his arrest from Allahabad high court.

He said Prajapati switched off the mobile phone after leaving the duo and is still untraceable.

Tewari was posted as lekhpal in the minister’s assembly constituency Amethi and was considered his closest aide while Shukla took care of the minister’s work in Lucknow.