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MEERUT: A 30-year-old man named Rahul Lohia , who according to Neeraj Malik , station house officer (SHO) of Civil Lines police station was a member of the Bajrang Dal , has been booked for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy who had gone to the organisation’s office in Meerut to catch a kite. The family has alleged that the boy had been assaulted by Lohia in the past as well.

While the accused is at large, Bajrang Dal office bearers have denied that Lohia is a member. Balraj Dungar, West UP convener, Bajrang Dal, said, “Lohia is an athlete who learns boxing at the Kailash Prakash Stadium and often used to stay at our office if he used to get late after practice twice or thrice in a week. He is not a member of Bajrang Dal. The police should investigate the matter and if he is found guilty, proper action should be taken against him.”

Lohia – who the victim’s family says has been staying here for at least two years now – allegedly forcibly took the boy inside the office and sexually assaulted him. The boy escaped from the office and told about the assault to his mother. The crime was allegedly committed on Tuesday evening. The family of the boy reached the police station here and filed a complaint on Wednesday.

The mother of the boy said, “My son had gone for his tuition class on Tuesday evening and when he was returning home at around 5pm, Lohia forcibly took him inside his office and sexually assaulted him. My son returned home in tears and told me that he had done the same thing with him thrice in the past. He is a little boy of 10 and is, in fact, a member of RSS himself.”

The boy’s father – who also has been in RSS for years now – approached the Civil Lines police station in Meerut and filed a complaint. Neeraj Malik, station house officer, Civil Lines police station, said, “An FIR has been filed against Lohia, who is a Bajrang Dal member, under sections 377 (unnatural offences), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.”