Lucknow, Dec 16 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh government Friday invoked the stringent gangsters act against don-turned-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Dhananjay Singh who was arrested last week for a double-murder committed in 2010.

The arrest followed his indictment by the Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) to which the case was entrusted shortly after the incident.

The Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act is aimed at curbing organised crime by giving vast powers to probe agencies.

According to an official spokesman, "Dhananjay Singh was involved in a number of heinous crimes including murder, kidnapping and extortion. He had always managed to evade arrest and had unleashed his terror in several parts of east Uttar Pradesh including his home district Jaunpur; hence it was necessary to restrain him by using the provisions of the gangsters act."

This is not the first time that Dhananjay Singh has fallen out with his political mentor and Chief Minister and BSP president Mayawati.

A couple of months back he was suspended from the party for meeting former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, then lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with the 2008 cash-for-votes scandal in parliament.

His suspension was revoked in the next two months.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jaunpur for the first time in 2009.

Dhananjay, who has more than a dozen criminal cases pending against him, was also among the suspects in the multi-crore rupee National Rural Health Mission scam that rocked the state earlier.