Days after the arrest of BSP legislator Shekhar Tewari in the Manoj Gupta murder case, a “former” chairman of UP Fisheries Development Corporation, Ram Mohan Garg, has been arrested on charges of rape.

The chairman of the corporation enjoys the status of a minister, though Garg claimed he resigned from his post on Thursday.

The matter came to light earlier in the day, after a woman, a resident of Aligarh, approached the police. Garg, she had said, had been sexually exploiting her since 2003.

Subsequently, an FIR under Sections 376, 504, 506, 323 and 293 of the Indian Penal Code, besides 3/6 of the Indecent Representation of Women Act was lodged.

According to the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Brij Lal, the woman has handed over a video CD and her recorded telephonic conversation with Garg as evidence.

The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party, in a prompt press release, denied that Garg has anything to do with the party. The release, issued by the party’s state unit, said Garg had resigned from the post “last year”. “He is neither a member of the BSP nor has anything to do with the party,” it added.

Garg, kept in the lock-up of Gomti Nagar police station, however, said he has resigned from his post Thursday. But he was not ready to discuss his association with the party.

“I won’t tell you anything regarding the matter,” he told reporters.

The victim had met Garg in 2003, after she had lodged a complaint of gangrape. Two police officers — then Circle officer Veer Singh and the then SDM O P Verma, were also booked for refusing to help her. That case is pending trial. Garg, Lal said, was helping the woman with the legal necessities and later, started exploiting her.

Garg had even helped her get a job in the computer section of Baghpat police, said Deputy Inspector General of Aligarh Range, Brij Bhushan.

“According to her statement, Garg then began blackmailing her with the help of a CD,” said Bhushan. To put a stop to it, she prepared a different CD with the help of a friend, Naseem.