The police in Kannauj district raided a college on Monday night and claimed to have arrested Samajwadi Party leader Nawab Singh Yadav after he was allegedly found in a compromising situation with a minor girl.

A case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

This is the second such incident. Earlier in Ayodhya, another SP leader Moid Khan was arrested for allegedly raping his 12-year-old daily-waged employee for close to two months.

Police claimed that Nawab Singh Yadav, a SP leader and an-ex representative of party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav, was arrested on charges charges of raping a minor girl.

Recently, Nawab had shared a video on social media wishing Akhilesh Yadav on his birthday. In his video, Nawab also shared his old photos with the SP chief.

As per the police, the accused leader had called the minor victim along with her aunt with the promise of giving her a job. However, when she went to meet him, Nawab allegedly raped her.

Nawab, however,  denied the charges and called it a political conspiracy.

Sharing details of the incident, the police said, “At 1:30 in the night, information was received that the victim’s top was removed and an attempt was made to do something wrong. Immediately after receiving the information, the police team reached the spot. Upon reaching the spot the police found the accused, victim, and her aunt inside.”

In her complaint to the police, the victim said that she was a member of the Mahila Morcha in Bharatiya Janata Party and was formerly in the Samajwadi Party.

The victim further said that she had known Nawab Singh for a long time and had come to meet the SP leader.

She said when her aunt went to the washroom, the accused allegedly tried to rape her. When the aunt came out and found that the victim was being harassed, she immediately called the police.

The police filed a case under the relevant sections and took Nawab Singh Yadav in custody. 

Meanwhile, launching a scathing attack on the Samajwadi Party, UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi sought to equate the Kannauj incident with that of a recent Ayodhya rape case involving a minor girl.

Tripathi said, “Nawab Singh Yadav is not only a small leader of SP, but he has also been (former) MP Dimple Yadav’s representative.”

“Samajwadi Party has always covered up such crimes under the policy that ‘boys are boys and they make mistakes’ ('ladke hai, ladko se galti ho jaati hai). First, it was Moid Khan of Ayodhya and now it is Nawab Yadav of Kannauj. This is the real character of the Samajwadi Party,” he said.

However, in a press release, Samajwadi Party’s Kannauj unit president Mohd Kaleem Khan claimed that Nawab Singh Yadav was not a member of the party. He said as Nawab Singh was involved in anti-party activities for about the last five years he was removed from the party.

Khan said that police and media were projecting Nawab Singh Yadav as SP member just to defame the party.