SP, BSP Leaders among 8 held for teen’s rape

Superintendent of Police Nikhil Pathak said the arrests were made following the girl’s complaint that she was raped for five years in different parts of the Lalitpur

Two office bearers of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) were arrested along with five others in connection with the rape of a 17-year-old girl, police officials said on Saturday.

SP, BSP district chiefs were among seven people arrested for the 17-year-old girl’s rape in Uttar Pradesh. (Representational image)

On Wednesday, a Class 11 student filed an FIR against 28 people, including her father, uncles, cousins and Lalitpur district president of SP Tilak Yada and his BSP counterpart Deepak Ahirwar for allegedly raping her for over five years, police said.

The SP dissolved its Lalitpur unit with immediate effect after Yadav’s arrest. Yadav had eralier rejected the allegations against him, calling them a political conspiracy.

Superintendent of Police Nikhil Pathak said a hotel in Mirzapur district was raided on Friday from where Yadav, Ahirvar, and an engineer of the state irrigation department, Mahendra Dubey, were arrested. The three were produced before a local court, which sent them to a 14-day judicial custody.