Varanasi (UP), Jun 7 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai on Saturday termed the arrest of two local party workers on charges of robbery, theft and molestation as a “political conspiracy to defame” him.

The two Congress workers are believed to be close to Rai.

“This has been done as part of a political conspiracy to defame me. This case has been filed for the third time,” Rai said.

Two local Congress workers were nabbed on charges of robbery, theft and molestation, police said on Friday.

The arrests were made on Thursday following a complaint by a woman, who alleged she was harassed and forcibly evicted from her shop in the Chetganj area, they said.

Station House Officer (SHO) Dilip Kumar Mishra said the complainant, Sachina Khatoon, a resident of Chetganj, had rented a shop from one Sanjay Singh in Hathua Market and operated a boutique in it.

“Khatoon alleged that after Sanjay Singh’s death during the Covid-19 pandemic, his friends, Anand Pandey and Amit Pathak, began intimidating her, extorting money as protection fees. When she refused, they allegedly pressured her to vacate the shop and subjected her to various forms of harassment,” he said.

Khatoon claimed that she also obtained a stay order on eviction from the court.

However, despite the order in May, Pandey and Pathak orchestrated a break-in into her shop and made off with all her belongings, she said.

When she and her daughters resisted, they were berated and harassed, police said, citing her complaint.

“Both Anand Pandey and Amit Pathak are said to be close associates of Congress state president Ajay Rai. A case of robbery, theft and molestation has been registered against them. Both were arrested on Thursday and presented before the court, which subsequently sent them to jail,” the SHO had said. PTI COR NAV KSS KSS