UP Congress workers, close to state chief Ajay Rai, arrested for 'harassing' woman over shop; party cries fowl
Congress Metropolitan president Raghavendra Chaubey dismissed the allegations and said the arrests were the BJP government's "premeditated conspiracy".
Two local Congress workers, said to be close to party's Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Rai, were arrested on charges of molestation, robbery, and theft, police said on Friday.
The arrest came after a woman lodged a complaint against the two and alleged she was harassed and forcibly evicted from her shop in Varanasi's Chetganj area.
Local Station House Officer (SHO) Dilip Kumar Mishra said that the complainant, Chetganj resident Sachina Khatoon, had rented a shop in Hathua Market from Sanjay Singh and ran a boutique there, news agency PTI reported.
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Khatoon alleged that following Singh's death during the Covid-19 pandemic, two of his friends, Anand Pandey and Amit Pathak, began intimidating her and extorting money in the name of protection fees. "When she refused, they allegedly pressured her to vacate the shop and subjected her to various forms of harassment," SHO Mishra added.
Khatoon reportedly claimed that she even got a stay order on the eviction from the court. Despite this order, in May last year, Pandey and Pathak planned a break-in into her shop and made off with all her belongings, she added.
{{/usCountry}}Khatoon reportedly claimed that she even got a stay order on the eviction from the court. Despite this order, in May last year, Pandey and Pathak planned a break-in into her shop and made off with all her belongings, she added.
{{/usCountry}}When she and her daughters resisted this, the two men berated and harassed them, police said as per her complaint.
{{/usCountry}}When she and her daughters resisted this, the two men berated and harassed them, police said as per her complaint.
{{/usCountry}}"Both Anand Pandey and Amit Pathak are said to be close associates of Congress state president Ajay Rai. A case of robbery, theft, and molestation has been registered against them. Both were arrested on Thursday and presented before the court, which subsequently sent them to jail," said the SHO.
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{{/usCountry}}"Both Anand Pandey and Amit Pathak are said to be close associates of Congress state president Ajay Rai. A case of robbery, theft, and molestation has been registered against them. Both were arrested on Thursday and presented before the court, which subsequently sent them to jail," said the SHO.
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{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the allegations were dismissed by Congress Metropolitan president Raghavendra Chaubey, who said that the arrests are a "premeditated conspiracy by the BJP government" to discredit their state chief Rai and the entire Congress party.
Chaubey also defended the two arrested persons, describing them as "strong activists" of the Congress and instead accusing Khatoon of having filing a similar cases against "almost half a dozen individuals" in Varanasi.
"This is her profession," Chaubey alleged, the news agency report mentioned.
