Vadodara, June 3 (IANS) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Vadodara city president Ashok Oza was arrested on Wednesday after a 40-year-old woman lodged a complaint accusing him of rape, criminal intimidation, and blackmail, marking the second criminal case registered against the party leader within a week.

The complaint was filed at the Kapurai police station in Vadodara. Police said the woman has also named members of Oza’s family in the case.

“The woman filed a complaint of rape, threatening and blackmailing, following which we arrested Oza,” a police official said.

According to investigators, the complainant alleged that she came into contact with Oza several years ago after he offered to help her family.

Police said the woman claimed Oza promised to secure employment for her husband and subsequently began exploiting her. The complainant has alleged that Oza raped her on multiple occasions at different locations.

According to the FIR, she claimed he initially called her to his residence, intoxicated her, and raped her. She further alleged that he later took her to places, including Mumbai, where he raped her in hotel rooms.

Police said the woman alleged that Oza recorded explicit photographs and videos of her and used the material to blackmail and threaten her.

The complaint also contains allegations against Oza’s son, Anand Oza. The woman has alleged that Anand Oza raped her while threatening to circulate compromising photographs.

Oza’s wife and daughter have also been accused of threatening and harassing the complainant.

Vadodara Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 3) Abhishek Gupta said, “The accused has been arrested, and the police have obtained four days’ custody for further investigation. According to the complainant, she was continuously threatened that if she approached anyone or reported the matter, her photographs and videos would be made public. The evidence submitted by the complainant is being examined, and the investigation is continuing.”

Police have begun a detailed investigation into the case and are collecting evidence related to the allegations made in the complaint.

The arrest comes days after Oza was booked in a separate case by the Anand Cyber Crime Police. On May 30, police arrested Oza and an associate, Nitin Dobariya, for allegedly impersonating an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer and threatening an AAP worker over the phone.

According to investigators, the case emerged after allegations circulated on social media that AAP workers in Gujarat were receiving threatening “verification” calls from people claiming to be IB officials.

A police probe traced the number used in one such call to Dobariya, and investigators alleged that the call was made at Oza’s behest.

Police alleged that an AAP worker was threatened while the caller falsely claimed to be from the “Karelibaug IB office”.

Investigators in the Anand case alleged that the impersonation was linked to internal party rivalries and that no IB officer or government agency was involved.

Oza and Dobariya were booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to criminal conspiracy, impersonation, and intimidation, as well as Section 66D of the Information Technology Act.

Police said further investigation is underway in both cases.

–IANS

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