Rape accused SP leader Gayatri Prajapati still at large, Akhilesh asks him to surrender

Rape accused SP leader Gayatri Prajapati is still on a run/ File image

Uttar Pradesh: Samajwadi Party’s rape accused leader Gayatri Prajapati is still at large. Now, days after campaigning for the ‘tainted’ minister ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday broke his silence on the issue and asked Prajapati to surrender. In a talk with senior journalist Shekhar Gupta, CM agreed that "Prajapati must not run and should surrender in front of the cops. He also ensured that the cops and UP Government would help the SC, catch hold of Prajapati. When did the incident take place? The alleged offence was first committed in October, 2014 and was repeated till July, 2016, but when the accused tried to molest the minor daughter of the victim, she wrote to the state DGP in October, 2016, requesting the officer to take action. But when her complaint to the DGP went unheeded, she moved the apex court for justice. Prajapati was sacked by the chief minister in 2016 during the family feud with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal but was later reinstated in the council of ministers. What does accused Prajapati have to say? With the police hot on his heels now, Prajapati has moved the apex court seeking protection from arrest and recall of its earlier order. Prajapati, who is contesting as an SP candidate from Amethi constituency where polls are over, has denied the charges terming it a "political conspiracy of BJP" and said "he did not know the victim". The cops on Thursday recorded a statement of the complainant’s daughter, who is also Prajapati’s ‘victim’, as per the complaint. (With agency inputs)