DEHRADUN: The husband of Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister Rekha Arya was arrested in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday, nearly 25 days after a case was registered against him, officials said.
Girdhari Lal Sahu, also known as Pappu Girdhari, was detained by Dehradun police and a special investigation team (SIT), which is bringing him to Dehradun for questioning.
Police said Sahu’s phone had been switched off and he was suspected to have moved between locations. Investigators also considered the possibility that he had fled to Nepal. The SIT, led by Dehradun Rural SP Jaya Baloni, questioned his associates and searched locations in Bareilly, Haldwani and Dehradun before tracing him to Jhansi.
The case was registered on October 15, 2026, after Arya, the state’s Minister for Women’s Empowerment and Child Development, filed a complaint against her husband at Dehradun’s Cantonment police station. She also released a video that day detailing her allegations.
Arya alleged that the couple married under Hindu rites on July 6, 2004, and that Sahu had concealed his previous marriage and children by presenting himself as unmarried. She also accused him of assault, verbal abuse and harassment after she questioned his alleged relationships with other women.
The complaint further alleged that Sahu used caste-based slurs against her at her official residence in front of staff. It also accused him of trying to remove her as a company director through altered documents bearing forged signatures, without her consent.
During a High Court hearing, Arya’s side claimed that she had been removed from the companies and 80 per cent of her shares had been sold. Her complaint also referred to an audio recording that she alleged captured Sahu and another woman discussing a plot to kill her and her children.
The FIR invokes provisions of the Indian Penal Code relating to conspiracy, assault, cheating, forgery, concealment of a previous marriage, cruelty, insult and intimidation, along with provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Sahu rejected the allegations in a video released after the FIR was registered. He claimed that the audio recording was generated using artificial intelligence and urged Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to order an inquiry.
He also accused Arya of holding alleged illicit or benami assets worth Rs 210 crore. Reports said his attempts to secure legal relief had failed and a non-bailable warrant had been issued.
The allegations against Sahu remain unproved.