Lucknow, Aug 21 - A hotel manager has been arrested for allegedly raping two minor girls for the last two years and holding them captive in Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh, police said Friday.

Pempa Chherin was arrested from the Sarnath locality of Varanasi Thursday on the complaint of two girls, who worked in the hotel. Chherin, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, had been managing the hotel along with his wife since 1996.

'The girls, aged 12 and eight years respectively, managed to escape from the hotel and registered a complaint against the manager. Medical reports of the girls confirm rape,' police inspector Prem Veer Rana told IANS.

According to police, it was Cherin's wife who brought the girls from Orissa on the pretext of providing them high income jobs in a beauty parlour.

'We have also detained Chherin's wife. Our team has contacted Orissa Police for rehabilitation of the two girls,' said Rana.

Varanasi is about 250 km from state capital Lucknow.