The Odisha police on Sunday arrested a Biju Janata Dal corporator of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation for allegedly sexually abusing a 19-year-old woman on the false promise of marriage and forcing her to abort her pregnancy when the victim was a minor.
The accused corporator Amaresh Jena, who was a popular face in the BJD circles and an influential party leader in Bhubaneswar city, was nabbed from Nilagiri area in Balasore district and was on the run after the victim, who now legally attained adulthood, lodged a complaint against him five days back, police said.
A special squad constituted to nab Jena located his whereabouts in Nilgiri. Later, he was intercepted from his hideout in a predawn search operation, police added.
Meanwhile, Jena has been suspended from BJD following his arrest in rape case.
The accused, booked under BNS sections 64(2) (rape), 89 (committing miscarriage without a woman’s permission), 296 (obscene act), and 352 (criminal intimidation) of BNS, and section 6 of the POCSO Act, will be produced before a local Court, police concluded.