Rape, murder case against ex-BJP official: Accused on the run, two co-accused arrested: Police

BJP district coordinator Sanjay Pandey said the party expelled Raza from its primary membership as the serious offences he was accused of had “tarnished the image of the party”.

Even as former BJP office-bearer Rahi Masum Raza, a rape and murder accused, was at large, police in Maharajganj district on Monday arrested two men, said to be his accomplices, as the co-accused in the alleged rape of a minor Dalit girl in the district. The police also interrogated Raza’s wife.

On August 28, the survivor lodged a complaint against Raza, in which she said Raza assaulted her father when he opposed the abuse.

Confirming the development, Maharajganj superintendent of police Dr. Kaustubh said Guddu Shah and Abid Ali, co-accused in the rape case against Raza, were arrested and three teams had been constituted to arrest the absconding key accused, whose last location was traced at Kushinagar’s Kasia area. Raza was the BJP’s minority cell in-charge in Maharajganj district.

Meanwhile, BJP district coordinator Sanjay Pandey said the party expelled Raza from its primary membership as the serious offences he was accused of had “tarnished the image of the party”.

Following a complaint from the girl alleging that Raza raped her and assaulted her father, the police booked him and three others under IPC section 376 (rape), 302 (murder), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation) and relevant sections of the POSCO and the SC/SC Acts. The murder charge was invoked as the girl’s father died at a community health centre on August 31.

Last Saturday, the SP suspended all police personnel attached to the Nagar police outpost in Maharajganj town and sent 24 others to police lines for alleged negligence in the case.

It was previously reported that the minor girl retracted her allegations while giving her statement to the police and the district magistrate last Wednesday. After this, the police detained Raza and released him on bond, the police said.

The Dalit girl and her family were tenants in a house owned by Raza. Days after his daughter’s alleged rape on August 27, the girl’s father died from suspected injuries allegedly suffered during a scuffle with Raza. On August 28, the survivor lodged a complaint against Raza, in which she said Raza assaulted her father when he opposed the abuse.