BSP candidate booked for gang-rape

 A case of rape has been registered against the BSP candidate from the Ayodhya Assembly seat, Bazmi Siddique, and six others. All the accused, except Siddique, were arrested and produced before the court on Saturday, which sent them to judicial custody, police said.

According to the victim, who is a resident of the town, Siddique and his six friends had barged into her house on Thursday and gang-raped her at gunpoint.

Siddique, however, rejected the allegation and said he was away on the said day. “The charge is politically motivated and a conspiracy by my rivals,” he said. Police said that Siddique is absconding and efforts are on to trace him.