Maya abuser Dayashankar Singh arrested; sent to 14 day judicial custody

Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dayashankar Singh who was on Friday arrested from Bihar's Buxar district has been sent to a 14-day judicial custody.

"UP CM should take action against the people who have insulted my family. I dare Akhilesh Yadav to arrest Naseemuddin Siddiqui," Singh told the media after his arrest.

A case was lodged against Dayashankar on 20th July for making a derogatory remark against BSP chief Mayawati.

Singh's comment caused a huge furore inside and outside Parliament, forcing the BJP to expel him for six years.

The state police was searching Dayashankar with a non-bailable warrant issued by a SC/ST court of Lucknow for his alleged derogatory remarks against BSP Chief Mayawati.

Earlier, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high vourt had rejected his plea for a stay on his arrest.

Dayashankar Singh was arrested by Uttar Pradesh special task force team with the help of the district police from a house in Chinni Mill locality, Superintendent of Police Upendra Kumar Sharma said.

Buxar is about 100 km from Patna on the border of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Singh had gone underground after an FIR was registered against him on July 20 by UP police on a complaint by BSP leader Mewalal Gautam, alleging that Singh's remarks hurt the feelings of BSP workers and the Dalit community across the country.

The arrest comes a day after Singh failed to get a stay from Allahabad high court which directed the UP government to file its reply by August 5 on his plea challenging the lodging of the FIR against him.

The remarks by Singh, former UP vice president of BJP, had stoked a major controversy with BJP expelling him from the party.

A photograph of Dayashankar Singh at a temple in Deogarh in Jharkhand had gone viral on social media and was also published in newspapers, triggering angry reaction from Mayawati against the BJP which is in power in Jharkhand.

Dayashankar Singh hails from Ballia in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

He is a Thakur and even though the caste accounts for only 7.6 per cent of the population, they wield enormous influence.

The BJP has initiated a fight in the name of daughter's honour giving a slogan "Beti ke samman mein, BJP maidan mein" after BSP leaders targeted Singh's family.

The party threw its weight behind Swati Singh, wife of Singh, demanding action against BSP leaders for making derogatory remarks against her daughter and mother-in-law.

In a show of strength the BSP staged a massive dharna at Hazratganj on July 21 and has been demanding Singh's arrest terming the BJP as "anti-Dalit".