Rape accused ex-SP minister Prajapati arrested in Lucknow

Shahira Naim
Tribune News Service
Lucknow, March 15 

After days of manhunt, former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prajapati, an accused in gang-rape of a woman and her minor daughter, was arrested from Lucknow on Wednesday morning.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Prajapati was arrested after his son Anurag and nephew Surendra were detained by the Lucknow Police early this morning.

According to Lucknow SSP Manzil Saini, Prajapati was on his way to Lucknow apparently with a view to surrender in court when he was arrested.

He was brought to the Alam Bagh police station in his SUV Fortuner while his supporters thronged the area raising slogans in his support.

He was later taken in his luxury SUV for medical examination and then to a court where his supporters clashed with the lawyers. The court sent Prajapati to 14 days of judicial custody.

Prajapati was last seen on February 27 when he had gone to vote in Amethi where he was the Samajwadi Party candidate. A non-bailable warrant had been issued against Prajapati who was since absconding.

Following this, his passport had been impounded and airports across the country had been put on alert to prevent him from fleeing the country.

Prajapati(49) had been booked on a Supreme Court directive and an FIR was lodged against him on February 17 and six others for allegedly gang-raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter.

His arrest comes four days after he lost the Vidhan Sabha election from Amethi. He had earlier approached the apex court seeking protection from the arrest offering to be always available to be examined by the state police. But the court rejected his plea.

All the six other people, named as accused in the case, have already been arrested. They include the minister’s close aides and a security guard. Three were arrested earlier and three were arrested on Tuesday.

In the middle of the UP elections, the Supreme Court had ordered Prajapati’s arrest.  The BJP continued accusing Akhilesh Yadav of shielding him and even supporting him when the former chief Minister chose to address an election meeting for Prajapati in Amethi where the candidate was conspicuous by his absence.

BJP chief Amit Shah had promised to hunt down and arrest Prajapati in his first speech after the election results were declared.

The other arrested persons in the case include Vikas Varma, Amrendra , Ashish Varma, Rupeshwar, Ashok Tiwari and gunner Chandrapal.

It may be recalled that in 2016 Gayatri Prajapati had been sacked by the then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav during the Samajwadi Party family feud.

However, he was later reinstated in the council of ministers reportedly under pressure from father Mulayam Singh Yadav.