A BJP MLC was today arrested by railway police in Hajipur on the charge of sexually harassing a minor girl on board the Howrah-Gorakhpur Poorvanchal Express.
The BJP member Tunna Ji Pandey was arrested on the basis of a written complaint from the parents of the 12-year-old girl, Superintendent of Railway Police (SRP), Muzaffarpur, B N Jha said.
The parents complained that Pandey had allegedly kissed their daughter in an AC-2 coach around 3 AM and asked her to come to the toilet with him when the train was near Sarai station close to Hajipur junction, he said.
The frightened girl raised an alarm following which the parents who had their berth elsewhere in the compartment rushed to her.
The MLC was caught by the escort party on board the train and handed over to the GRP Hajipur, the SP said.
The victim family was travelling from Howrah to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, while Pandey had ticket from Duragapur to Hajipur.
Pandey is in liquor trade and an MLC from local bodies quota in Siwan.
An FIR has been registered against the MLC with the GRP Hajipur under IPC 354 A (demand or request for sexual favours) and POSCO ACT, the SP said.
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The MLC, however, dismissed the charge saying the girl
shouted when he switched on the light to take his mobile charger.
Talking to reporters at the GRP police station, Pandey said he had told the girl's parents that since he had to get down at Hajipur he was taking his mobile charger from the plug and for that he switched on the light.
Reacting to the incident, BJP Bihar President Mangal Pandey told
