Former BJP leader Dayashankar Singh arrested

Former BJP leader Dayashankar Singh, whose abusive remarks against BSP chief Mayawati caused an outcry, was arrested on Friday in Bihar after being on the run for days, police said.

Singh was arrested by a joint team of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) and the Bihar Police from Chini Mill area in Buxar.

Superintendent of Police Upendra Kumar Sharma told IANS, "He was arrested around 12 p.m. when he was roaming around in the Chini Mill area of the city."

"The STF team had leads about his position following surviellence," the officer added.

The officer said that the STF team from Uttar Pradesh had reached Buxar on Thursday night after getting a tip off about his whereabouts.

Singh belongs to Buxar and was last seen by people in Deogarh in Jharkhand performing a puja.

After pictures of Singh outside the Baba Dham temple in Jharkhand's Deoghar district surfaced on social media, the STF zeroed in on Bihar and Jharkhand to trace him. Following electronic surveillance, he was arrested from the Chini Mill locality on Friday.

"The STF team has taken him to Lucknow, and will be produced in a court there," the officer added.

A local court earlier issued a non-bailable warrant against him and the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday refused to put his arrest on hold.

Singh, who was Uttar Pradesh BJP Vice President, went into hiding after an FIR was lodged against him for his derogatory comments against Mayawati. He was also expelled by the party for six years.

Following the uproar over his remarks, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supporters took out a strong protest rally, demanding his arrest and made disparaging remarks against his family.

Traumatisied over the remarks by BSP supporters, Singh's wife Swati Singh and mother Tetra Devi lodged an FIR against Mayawati, senior BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui, and others for using objectionable language against them in Lucknow on July 22.

--IANS

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