Shillong: A Meghalaya legislator, who had been absconding after his name emerged as an accused in the rape case of a minor girl, was arrested in Guwahati on Saturday.
A joint operation by Meghalaya and Assam police helped nab Independent legislator Julias Kitbok Dorphang from Garchuk in Guwahati.
“We have arrested Dorphang and he was brought here. He will now face trial,” East Khasi Hills district SP M Kharkrang told PTI.
The arrest was made from a place which he used as a hideout, he said, without divulging details.
The Meghalaya Police had issued a lookout notice to nab Dorphang, who was wanted in a sex racket involving a 14-year-old girl.
The police had also requested their counterparts in neighbouring states to share information as a manhunt had begun to nab the legislator who supports the ruling Congress.
Several raids were conducted within the state and even in Assam on Thursday evening, which turned futile.
Dorphang, who previously founded a militant organisation and surrendered in 2007, went into hiding after the police booked him under Section 366 (A) of the IPC and registered a case under Section 3(a)/4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and under Section 5 of the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act.
The sex racket came to light after an employee of a guest house owned by senior Congress leader and state Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh’s son was arrested for pimping the victim last month.
The victim was rescued from near the guest house and brought to the police station where she named all those involved in the racket. Five of the eight people, including four women named in separate FIRs, have been arrested till date.
On January 4, a local court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Dorphang, following which the manhunt began.
Meanwhile, women activists here have demanded that the Chief Minister drop Lyngdoh from his Cabinet to allow a free and fair trial.
Bureau Report
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