'Y' category security to rape accused Gayatri Prajapati to be withdrawn

Person enjoying 'Y' category has security cover of 11 personnel, including one or two commandos

Police on Thursday initiated steps to withdraw 'Y' category security to Gayatri Prasad Prajapati as the rape accused Uttar Pradesh minister remains elusive.

"We have initiated the process to withdraw his 'Y' category security," a senior Lucknow Police official said.

A person enjoying 'Y' category has a security cover of 11 personnel, including one or two commandos.

"Police teams are on the job and we will arrest him soon," he said even as special police teams returned empty-handed from Amethi, the minister's assembly constituency, and Delhi where he was said to be hiding.

An UP police team went to Delhi to record the statement of the 16-year-old victim who is in a state of "severe trauma" and is housed in a restricted ward at the AIIMS.

A DSP-rank officer, investigating the matter, recorded the victim's statement after seeking permission from AIIMS Medical Superintendent.

The statement was videographed according to the rules under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.

Police teams were dispatched out of the state capital whePrajapatiti could not be located in his official residence in posh Gautampalli area in Lucknow.

Acting on Supreme Court orders, police made frantic efforts to nab him and after having failed to do so they might even apply for cancellation of his passport so that the minister cannot escape from the country.

Interestingly, the minister was earlier seen moving freely from one place to other in his constituency seeking votes.

The last time Prajapati was seen in public was on February 27 when he spoke to the media saying he will win with a huge margin and will work under Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav once again.

49-year-old Prajpati is facing imminent arrest following a FIR lodged against him and six of his accomplices on the apex court order at Gautampalli police station here on February 18 under various sections of the IPC and POCSO Act.

The Uttar Pradesh police had lodged an FIR against Prajapati on the apex court's order for his alleged roles in separate cases of gangrape and an attempt to rape another woman and her minor daughter.

The apex court's direction had come on a petition by a woman who had alleged repeated gangrape by Prajapati and others and sought the court's order for lodging the FIR.

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.

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".

Prajapati's presence in the electoral arena raised eyebrows of leaders of opposition parties who have made it a big poll issue.

Though Akhilesh had sought votes for SP candidates in his election meeting in Amethi, he had steered clear of the controversy.

His father and SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav too kept away from the constituency citing health issues.

BJP has targeted Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over her poll campaign in Rae Bareli for the Congress-SP alliance, saying it was unfortunate that she was seeking votes for those accused of "rape and murder."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had raked up the Prajapati case, saying at an election rally that the Supreme Court had to intervene to get the minister booked in the case.

"The SC had to intervene to get the FIR registered against Gayatri Prasad Prajapati. 'Goonda raj' is prevailing all over UP and police stations have become Samajwadi Party office," Modi had said.

Amethi is the Gandhi family pocket borough and is represented by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, while neighbouring Rae Bareli is represented by party chief and Rahul's mother Sonia Gandhi in Lok Sabha.