Hiding in plain sight, Gayatri Prajapati eludes UP police

Ever since the Supreme Court ordered an FIR to be filed against Gayatri Prajapati, the UP police are supposed to be looking for the man, but have not been able to sight him.
Gayatri Prajapati with Samajwadi Party leaders at a rally. (File Photo | PTI)
Gayatri Prajapati with Samajwadi Party leaders at a rally. (File Photo | PTI)

CHITRAKOOT: As Uttar Pradesh prepares to vote in the sixth phase of the election on March 4, the most wanted man as far as the police are concerned is the minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati. He is wanted for the alleged rape of a woman, repeatedly over two years, and attempted rape of her 16-year-old daughter, who now lies traumatized in the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Ever since the Supreme Court ordered an FIR to be filed against Gayatri Prajapati, the UP police are supposed to be looking for the man, but have not been able to sight him. That’s because Gayatri Prajapati is hiding in plain sight, attending political rallies in his constituency Amethi. He cast his vote in the Assembly election in Amethi Feb. 27 and spoke to the media predicting his victory by a massive majority.

On Thursday, the UP police went into ‘overdrive’ against Gayatri Prajapati, announcing that they intend to withdraw the minister’s Y category security, which enables him to have a security cover of 11 personnel, including one or two commandos..

“We are on the job and we will arrest him soon," said a senior police officer even as special police teams returned empty-handed from Amethi, and Delhi.

Meanwhile in the town of Chitrakoot, from where the victim family hails, sources said all-out efforts have been made to prevent the woman from pursuing the case.

Apart from circulating her identity widely in the town in a bid to deter her from pursuing the case, sources in her family said she was sought to be assuaged with promises of a Samajwadi Party ticket in the present elections, a luxurious apartment in Lucknow and a Toyota Fortuner and money.

Two other children of the woman, a son and a daughter, live in Chitrakoot while the elder daughter is being treated for trauma in AIIMS in Delhi. “She suddenly starts screaming at night and has developed suicidal tendencies due to the gangrape attempt. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should intervene and help us otherwise all of us would be killed,'' one family member said.

Not only has Gayatri Prajapati become scarce to the police, his sidekicks took have disappeared from the scene. One Samajwadi Party worker from Chitrakoot, who is said to have been the person who introduced the woman to the minister, is nowhere to be seen in the town leaving his house locked, local people say.

Sources in the victim’s family said the woman aspired to a career in politics and therefore was lured with promises of opportunities in the Samajwadi Party. She wanted to come out of the situation but was blackmailed with video and threats to her family, a family member said.

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