MP BJP leader among six arrested for rape, trafficking of minor girl

A Madhya Pradesh BJP leader and five others, including a woman, were arrested here in the wee hours of Thursday for alleged sexual assault and trafficking of a minor girl from Assam.

The six persons were held at around 3 am from a vehicle during a routine checking on the Dewas-Ujjain road. Dewas is 35 km from Indore.

Police have slapped sections 372 (rape) and 373 (trafficking) of IPC on the six persons including an official and another employee of the Dewas Municipal Corporation (DMC).

Later in the day, the BJP expelled the arrested leader Hamid Sadar, a former president of the minority wing of the party’s local unit.

The DMC employees were identified as revenue inspector Sabir Alias Lala and Rohot Jalodia. Police identified the three other arrested persons as Yaqub Sekh, Raja and Mumtaz.

“The arrested persons will be produced in court on Friday,” Kotwali town inspector Bhupen Singh said.

The girl underwent medical tests on Thursday while her statement will be recorded by a magistrate on Friday, the TI added.

The minor, who claimed to have been kidnapped from a district in Assam, was likely to be handed over to the child welfare committee.

However, police did not reveal which district of Assam she hails from.

Police sources quoted the girl as saying that she was first taken to Mumbai from where was brought to Indore by a person identified only as Rakesh.

She claimed that Rakesh sold her to Mumtaz, who wanted to use her in running a sex racket.

She also claimed that on Thursday, she was sexually assaulted by four of the six arrested at a place on the Dewas-Ujjain road.