Mayawati orders probe into rape allegations against BSP legislator

LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Saturday ordered a police inquiry into the allegations of gangrape and illegal confinement of a minor girl by a ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator and his supporters in the state’s Banda district.

In an official press release issued her, the chief minister said: “The Crime Branch of the CID has been asked to take over the investigation into the case of alleged gangrape of a girl in Banda. The investigating team has been asked to reach Banda by Sunday morning and start their work immediately.”

The girl, belonging to a Dalit community, had accused BSP legislator Pushottam Narain Dwivedi and his henchmen of not only subjecting her to gangrape but also using his influence to implicate her in a case of theft.

Dwivedi accused her of stealing the legislator’s licenced revolver and Rs. 5000 from his house , for which she was currently lodged in jail in Banda, 180 km from here.

Mayawati got into action only after the issue was raised by both state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, who charged her of shielding criminals in her party.