BHOPAL: A ruling BJP leader was arrested for allegedly raping and blackmailing a high-profile local politician in the Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh. The woman has also accused the ruling party leader of extorting money from her.
The accused, Ajit Pal Singh Chauhan, aged around 50, who hails from a powerful political and ex-royal family, was arrested by the Sidhi police reportedly from the adjoining Rewa district on Tuesday, just a few hours after being booked for rape, extortion, criminal intimidation and obscene act.
In her complaint submitted to the police a few days back, the woman politician had alleged that the BJP leader promised to get her the ruling party’s ticket to contest Vidhan Sabha polls in 2023, which never happened. She alleged that he raped and blackmailed her, besides extorting money from her.
After investigating the complaint, the local police lodged a case against Chauhan on Monday and arrested him on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, acting on the instructions from the state BJP chief VD Sharma, the party’s Sidhi district unit expelled Chauhan from the party for six years.
Chauhan hails from a powerful political and ex-royal family of the Sidhi district. His family was associated with the Congress for decades.
He joined the BJP three years back and is reportedly known to some big Congress and BJP leaders in MP, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh.