The police have detained a former RSS pracharak in Orissa for his alleged role in the abduction of an 18-year-old girl from an impoverished family in coastal Kendrapara district.

The police revealed that they have detained Nayak, 45, on the suspicion of being hand-in-glove with a person accused of abducting the girl. The girl, a resident of Jadupur villager in Patkura block of Kendrapara, was reportedly lured to Bhubaneswar by her uncle Baikuntha Biswal on May 11 on the promise that he would find her a job. The girl’s father, a poor peasant, is suffering from cancer and had allowed his daughter to go with Biswal.

Kendrapara sub-divisional police officer Jaydev Sarangi said Nayak’s name came to the fore after police arrested Biswal and his daughter Priyanka Biswal, the missing girl’s classmate, on October 25. “During interrogation he revealed the name of Nayak and one Patitapaban Samal. He (Nayak) told us that he had left the girl with Nayak’s NGO Sookruti,” Sarangi told The Indian Express.

The girl’s father had lodged an FIR at the Patkura police station on June 24 after he failed to trace his daughter for more than a month after she left her home. Police said their immediate priority was to trace the girl. “Nayak is not able to tell us about the whereabouts of the girl clearly. Once we trace the girl, we will take suitable action against him and others in the case,” said Sarangi.

Compared to other pracharaks in RSS, Nayak has been quite successful in climbing through the ranks of the Sangh. Between 2002 and 2004 he was chairman of the Orissa chapter of Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), a ultra-rich NGO under the Ministry of Rural Development. He is also a member of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage(INTACH) Orissa chapter as well member of Mahabodhi Society of India, an organisation that works for revival of Buddhism. His role as member of Mahabodhi Society of India’s Orissa chapter was quiet controversial with several members accusing him of encroaching upon the office building in Bhubaneswar. He also unsuccessfully contested as a rebel member in the 2004 Assembly election from the Bhubaneswar Assembly constituency after BJP denied him a ticket.