2 arrested for bid to ‘honey-trap’ former minister

NOIDA: A local BSP functionary and a woman were arrested in Greater Noida on Friday for allegedly trying to ‘honey-trap’ a former Uttar Pradesh minister in the Mayawati government, police said on Friday.

A complaint was lodged on January 26 by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister, Kartar Nagar, alleging that an unknown woman was insisting on meeting him and threatening to malign his image if he did not meet her, the police said.

“The woman would repeatedly use WhatsApp to call and text him. She wanted to meet him so that she could get their pictures clicked together and extort money from him,” a police official said. A case was lodged at Badalpur police station and the phone number was tracked down to Usha (name changed).

It emerged that she was work- ing on instructions of Updesh Nagar, a local BSP functionary, the official said.“Usha and Updesh were arrested on Friday from the Bisrakh Mod Chowki under Badalpur police station area,” he added. During interrogation, the woman admitted that she was working on instructions of Updesh, who wanted to settle a score with Kartar Nagar, the official said.

“Updesh told the police that one of his relatives was to contest the Lok Sabha election on a BSP ticket, but Kartar Nagar had got his nomination cancelled at the last moment using his influence and alleging that the candidate had a rape case against him,” he added. According to the police, Updesh wanted the woman to ‘honey-trap’ the former minister and take their pictures together in order to malign his image.

“The woman was told that they would ask for ₹ 2 crore from Kartar Nagar and she would get her share from that, to which she had agreed,” the police official said.