Hyderabad, July 20 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh police Monday arrested a legislator belonging to the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on charges of molesting female students from Kerala at the nursing college run by him.
A three-member team from the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the state police arrested T.V. Rama Rao in Kovvur in the coastal district of West Godavari.

The arrest was made two weeks after five female students of TVR College of Nursing in Nidadavolu town in West Godavari district complained to the state home minister and state human rights commission that Rama Rao tried to molest them.

Earlier on June 18, Nidadavolu police had booked the legislator for rape and murder of a student. However, the police could not make any progress in the case as it failed to find any evidence of the offence. The legislator had denied the charges and claimed that it was a conspiracy by his political rivals.

The case took a dramatic turn on June 4 when five students from Kerala appeared before state Home Minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy to complain that the legislator made a rape attempt. They later recorded their statements before CID, which is probing the case.

The girls also complained to the state governor and the human rights commission. The commission had also sought a report from West Godavari district police, which found Rama Rao guilty of molestation.

The case took a political overtone after TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu accused the Congress government of implicating the legislator in false cases. Rama Rao and his family members also started an indefinite fast early this month to demand withdrawal of the case.