LUCKNOW: The Police on Friday evening arrested rape accused former SP minister Gayatri Prajapati after a fresh case was lodged against him on the charges of cheating, criminal intimidation, and forgery.
Prajapati has been sent to a 14-day judicial custody. The former minister is believed to be conniving with the rape survivor to get the rape charges dropped.
Prajapati was out of jail after he was granted a conditional interim bail for two months by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on September 4 in the case of gang rape of a woman and molestation of her minor daughter. However, the former SP minister was yet to be released as he had still not fulfilled the bail conditions, said the police sources.
The former minister had been in jail since March 15, 2017, in connection with the case, the FIR of which was lodged by the then Akhilesh government on the intervention of the Supreme Court of India.
Meanwhile, the fresh case of cheating and fraud was lodged against Prajapati by the rape survivor's lawyer Dinesh Chandra Tripathi at Ghazipur police station in Lucknow on Thursday.
The police officials said although Prajapati’s bail order stands, a lower court had ordered him to be in 14-day judicial custody in the fresh case lodged against him.
Tripathi had given a complaint against Prajapati under charges of criminal intimidation, dishonesty, forgery for the purpose of cheating, and using genuine documents fraudulently.
The lawyer had also mentioned the connivance of the rape survivor with the rape accused former minister in the case. He had alleged that Chitrakoot-based woman had earlier got an FIR registered against Prajapati on charges of her rape and molestation of her daughter but later she allegedly received money, plots, and houses from Prajapati to turn hostile in the case along with her daughter.
The lawyer, who has been representing the rape survivor in the case against Prajapati, also claimed in the complaint, which led to the registration of fresh FIR against the former SP minister, that the rape survivor tried to turn the table on him (lawyer) and got a case of rape lodged against him in connivance with Prajapati at Gautampalli police station in Lucknow on July 7, 2019.
Lawyer Dinesh Chandra Tripathi also alleged in his complaint that the rape survivor took a plot worth Rs 1.5 crore in posh Ashiana locality of Lucknow from Prajapati to make her daughter hostile in the case. He claimed that she started targeting him as he refused to give an undertaking in favour of Prajapati on her behalf that he had not committed the crime he was being tried for.
Tripathi also charged Prajapati with giving him life threats. He claimed that the ex-minister had threatened to get him eliminated once he was out of jail.