LUCKNOW: Police today initiated steps to withdraw 'Y' category security to Gayatri Prasad Prajpati as the rape accused Uttar Pradesh minister remains elusive. "We have initiated the process to withdraw his 'Y' category security," a senior Lucknow Police official said.
A person enjoying 'Y' category has a security cover of 11 personnel, including one or two commandos. "Police teams are on the job and we will arrest him soon," he said even as special police teams returned empty-handed from Amethi, the minister's assembly constituency, and Delhi where he was said to be hiding.
A UP police team went to Delhi to record the statement of the 16-year-old victim who is in a state of "severe trauma" and is housed in a restricted ward at the AIIMS. A DSP-rank officer, investigating the matter, recorded the victim's statement after seeking permission from AIIMS Medical Superintendent. The statement was videographed as per the rules under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
Police teams were dispatched out of the state capital when Prajpati could not be located in his official residence in posh Gautampalli area here. Acting on Supreme Court orders, police made frantic efforts to nab him and after having failed to do so they might even apply for cancellation of his passport so that the minister cannot escape from the country.
Interestingly, the minister was earlier seen moving freely from one place to other in his constituency seeking votes. The last time Prajapati was seen in public was on February 27 when he spoke to the media saying he will win with a huge margin and will work under Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav once again. 49-year-old Prajpati is facing imminent arrest following an FIR lodged against him and six of his accomplices on the apex court order at Gautampalli police station here on February 18 under various sections of the IPC and POCSO Act. The Uttar Pradesh police had lodged an FIR against Prajapati on the apex court's order for his alleged roles in separate cases of gangrape and an attempt to rape another woman and her minor daughter.