Cong MLA's son wanted in abetment of suicide case arrested from Gujrat's Jamnagar

Bhopal, Nov 20 : Congress MLA Sena Mahesh Patel's son Pushpraj Patel, who was wanted for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 25-year-old woman, was arrested from Gujarat on Tuesday.

He was evading arrest after an FIR was registered against him at Kotwali police station on September 15, this year. Alirajpur district police had earlier announced a cash reward of Rs 5,000 on his arrest.

Pushpraj was arrested from Jamnagar district in Gujarat following a raid conducted by MP Police, a police official posted in Jobat police station told IANS.

He was booked for harassing and abetting the suicide a 25-year-old woman identified as Damini Thakur. She had died by suicide a week before she was supposed to get married to a Gujarat-based man on September 13.

Police had then said that Damini killed herself following repeated threats issued by Pushpraj Patel, who was forcing her to marry him.

The victim's family had told the police that the accused had repeatedly threatened Thakur and her finance, causing disruptions in her engagements, which forced her to end her life.

The incident sparked a political controversy as the Congress MLA had alleged that his son was fabricated as part of a political conspiracy aimed at defaming his family.

The state BJP on Tuesday reacted, saying, the criminal son of a Congress MLA, who had harassed and blackmailed a woman and forced her to commit suicide, was finally arrested.

"Instead of surrendering, the criminal was hiding under the protection of Congress MLA but, he forgot that Mohan Yadav-led BJP government is committed to putting criminals behind bars," MP BJP media in-charge Ashish Agrawal said in a statement.