Ex-Cong VP’s anticipatory bail petition rejected

PATNA: A special court in Patna on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail petition of former state Congress vice-president Brajesh Pandey, who is an accused in a case of sexual exploitation of a Dalit girl.
The petition was rejected by special POCSO (Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences) Act court judge O P Shrivastava.
The victim, who is the daughter of a former Congress minister, had lodged an FIR against automobile showroom owner Nikhil Priyadarshi.She accused him of sexually exploiting and abusing her. Nikhil’s father and retired IAS official Krishna Bihari Prasad Singh, his brother Manish Priyadarshi and his friend Sanjeet Kumar Sharma were also made accused in the FIR. The incident took place in January last year when she was a minor.
Brajesh became a non-FIR accused in the case as his name surfaced during the police investigation into the sexual exploitation case. Special public prosecutor Suresh Chandra Prasad confirmed the court decision.
Earlier, the bail petitions of Nikhil, his father and brother were also rejected by the court. They are still behind bars.