Bhopal, Apr 3 (IANS): The Akhil Bharatiya Brahman Mahasabha's national President- Sanjay Tripathi and his nephew have been arrested in connection with the sensational rape case in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa in which Mahant Sitaram Das is the main accused, taking the number of arrests to five, police said.

Charged with helping the accused Mahant escape after the crime on March 28, Tripathi and his nephew Anshul Mishra, both residents of Rewa, were arrested from Bhopal on Saturday and brought to Rewa where they produced before a local court on Sunday.

Police said Tripathi had provided shelter to Das after he allegedly raped the minor and also helped him to escape Rewa in his own car. Das had escaped to neighbouring Sidhi district and tried to change his appearance by cutting his long hair. However, he was arrested from Singrauli district on March 29.

"During the interrogation, Sitaram Das told that after raping the minor girl, he had taken shelter in Tripathi's home. He also told that Tripathi has provided a car to run away from Rewa to Sidhi and then to Singrauli. We have arrested duo (Tripathi and Mishra) from Bhopal. They were sent to jail. Further investigation in the matter is still underway," said a senior police officer.

Apart from Das and the duo, Rewa police have also arrested Vinod Pandey and Tauseef Khan.

"All the arrested are being interrogated... Some more people associated with this case are also likely to be arrested soon," a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told IANS, adding that the Chief Minister's Office is directly monitoring the case.

A minor girl was allegedly raped in Raj Niwas in Rewa district on March 28 and a complaint was lodged on March 29.