In a first incident of its kind in UP, a politician having the rank of Minister of State was arrested.

Totaram Yadav, Samajwadi party leader and chairman of Pradesh Cooperative Cold Storage Federation (PACFED) of MoS rank was arrested in Mainpuri on Wednesday. He was later released on bail in the evening. He is wanted in several cases including FIR registered against him for booth capturing during panchyat election in October 3.

Totaram was arrested while he was sharing the dais with PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav at a local school event in Mainpuri on Wednesday.

The local scribes asked the PWD minister as to how a person wanted by the police was sitting on the dais.

Shivpal Yadav cautioned Totaram Yadav to leave the dais saying “Whether he wanted to go to jail’’. Totaram remained seated on the dais and as soon as the programme ended he was arrested by the police.

Totaram argued with the police as to how  he can be arrested as the cases against him are still under investigation. After his arrest  his supporters  reportedly threatened  the local scribes for  raising the issue of  Totaram before Shivpal singh Yadav.

local Samajwadi party sources said warrants have been issued against him and he has not appeared in the court in last three dates.  Totaram Yadav had also filed a petition in Allahabad high court seeking the quashing of the FIR against him for booth capturing. The petition was rejected by the high court.

Totaram Yadav hit the headlines on October 13 last when he along with his supporters and policemen on duty had captured a polling booth in Raipur village under Bewar police station of mainpuri district. Totaram Yadav, a confident of Samajwadi party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, had unsuccessfully contested the election of member district panchyat from the Mainpuri district. The booth capturing incident was recorded on camera where Totaram along with the policemen are seen as stamping the ballot papers. The video went viral on the social media.  Taking a strong view of the incident State Election commission had ordered the registration of the criminal cases against Totaram Yadav and 15 others including six policemen who were on duty at the Raipur polling booth.

Totaram had however denied his involvement in the booth capturing incident claiming the person seen in the video was some other person. Earlier this year also Totaram Yadav had hit the headlines earlier this year also where he had claimed that there is nothing called rape and whatever happened was always with the consent of both the partners. Tortaram Yadav had claimed that media gives publicity to incidents of rape only to malign the Samajwadi party government.