After a six-month-long investigation, the Ludhiana police on Tuesday arrested Punjabi singer Nachattar Gill on the charge of raping a local girl on the pretext of giving her a break in modelling and a music video album.
The singer has also been charged with making the girl's lewd MMS (multimedia messaging service) and blackmailing her. Three co-accused are yet to be arrested.
Police commissioner Nirmal Singh Dhillon confirmed the arrest, adding that there was evidence against Gill. He said the police would produce the accused before the court on Wednesday.
The girl's family had accused cops of favouring the accused on Monday, when the police had called the singer as well as the victim to join the investigation.
The other accused are Charandeep Singh Channi, a builder and resident of the Hambran road area here, and his accomplices Raja and Jagdeep Sohi.
A case under sections 376 (rape), 420 (cheating), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 66(E) and 67(A) of the Information Technology Act had been registered against Gill and the others in June.