Patna, July 4: A former minister, attacked with a knife in his apartment late last evening, has come under a cloud of controversy with the attacker later accusing the man of trying to sodomise him.

Azazul Haque, a minister in the Rabri Devi regime, who is presently admitted in a private hospital in Patna with multiple stab wounds, was attacked around 10.30pm in his third floor flat at the Samanpura-based Royal Court Club Apartment under the jurisdiction of Shastri Nagar police station.

The attacker, identified as Patliputra Colony-based Raghvendra Singh, alias Raghu, then fled taking Haque's SUV and his licensed revolver.

Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vikas Vaibhav today said Raghu (18) had been nabbed after a chase this morning from a bridge under the jurisdiction of Barhara police station area in Ara.

"The police traced the attacker to Ara through cellphone call details and nabbed this morning. He was in the SUV and the revolver was recovered from his possession. He had been brought to Patna and had been questioned. The police had been alerted about the incident last night by other residents of the apartment," the SSP said.

Haque had been with the RJD and is the brother-in-law of former RJD MP and strongman Mohammed Shahabuddin.

He had served as a minister of state in the Rabri Devi regime between 1997 and 2005.

A former MLA from Jiradei in Siwan district, which was once the bastion of Shahabuddin, Haque had left the RJD in 2010 after he was not provided the party ticket for the Assembly polls.

With the police questioning Raghvendra, the revelations were startling, the men-in-uniform said.

"Raghvendra, in his statement, has said he had started to work for Haque four days ago in his apartment as a data entry operator. Hailing from Siwan, his father Lal Babu Singh is a retired state government employee. Last night, Haque allegedly made wrong advances at him. Thereafter, Raghvendra attacked him in self-defence after Haque tried to sodomise him. After attacking Haque with the knife, he took the former minister's car keys and fled. "Earlier, Haque, who was presently staying alone in the flat, had said three men had barged into his house and attacked him with the purpose of loot. The men had taken away his SUV, Rs 30,000 cash and his licensed revolver.

"However, no cash was recovered from Raghvendra and there was no sign of his so-called two associates too. The police have checked the footage from the closed-circuit television cameras. But there is no evidence of three men being involved in the incident. Raghvendra has added that he didn't steal any revolver and the weapon was present in the SUV in which he drove away. Further police investigations are on in the case," another police officer told The Telegraph.

The police, however, refused to comment on how did Raghvendra clinched the job.

"He got the job in Haque's house through another person but he cannot be named at present due to investigation purposes," the officer said.