Former Lok Sabha member Dhananjay Singh on Wednesday was sentenced to seven years imprisonment by a local court in Jaunpur for kidnapping and abusing a Namami Gange project manager at gunpoint.
A two-time MLA, Mr. Singh won the Jaunpur Lok Sabha seat in 2009 on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) symbol. He is currently a member of the Janata Dal (United).
Mr. Singh, along with his accomplice Santosh Vikram Singh, was convicted on Tuesday under Sections 364 (kidnapping), 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The incident happened on May 10, 2020, when Abhinav Singhal, a project manager hailing from Muzaffarnagar district, lodged a police complaint against Mr. Dhananjay Singh and his supporter alleging that the duo kidnapped him and sought extortions. It has also been alleged that the accused pressured the petitioner to supply low-quality material for the project.
Mr. Dhananjay Singh, an influential leader from the Rajput community, wields clout in Jaunpur and earlier this month had declared that he would contest the upcoming general election from the seat when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced the candidature of Kripa Shankar Singh from the constituency.
With the court sentencing the former MP, he is out of the race to fight the polls.
