Noida/Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police Sunday arrested Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator Shribhagwan Verma alias Guddu Pandit after a woman alleged that he had raped, physically and sexually abused her for years.

Noida Senior Superintendent of Police R.K. Chaturvedi said the legislator was arrested from his sector-53 residence in Noida, a suburb of the national capital.

The arrest followed an allegation from the woman. a research scholar, who said the legislator had exploited her physically and mentally for the past couple of years.

According to reliable sources in the national capital, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati called Pandit at her Delhi residence to seek his explanation on the charges levelled by the woman against him.

Mayawati then alerted Delhi Police and later a team of Uttar Pradesh Police whisked him to Noida from where he was formally arrested. The allegations were published in a Hindi daily published from Lucknow.

The father of the victim, Dinesh Chand Birla, in his complaint registered at Kasganj police station in Kashi Ram Nagar district has said the legislator had 'married' his daughter concealing the fact that he had a wife and two kids.

Later when it became known that he had a family, the legislator insisted on keeping the victim as a mistress. The complaint says the woman was abducted, kept at several places, raped and physically and mentally tortured by Pandit.

A criminal case was also registered against the victim at Ram Ghat police station in Bedai of Bulandsher district, which is also the constituency of the legislator.

The complaint also says that the victim was publicly beaten up and humiliated on several occasions.

Noida police chief Chaturvedi said the Ram Ghat police station in-charge has been suspended.

The police said the legislator has been booked for rape, intimidation and fraud.

Source : IANS