Uttarakhand High court stays arrest of ex-BJP general secretary Sanjay Kumar

The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday stayed the arrest of former state BJP general secretary Sanjay Kumar, accused of sexual harassment by a woman. Justice N S Dhanik also directed the state to file a reply within four weeks, after which the matter will be listed for final hearing, said Kumar's advocate, Aditya Singh. A woman, who worked at the state Bharatiya Janata Party office, approached the police accusing Kumar of sexually harassing her for months by sending obscene text messages and behaving inappropriately with her. She had also accused the party leadership of not acting in the matter despite repeated complaints. The BJP had removed Kumar from the post after the incident came to light last year. Kumar had applied for anticipatory bail in the case.

(With inputs from agencies.)