Express News Service
PATNA: RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, serving rigorous imprisonment in a Ranchi jail after his conviction in a second fodder scam case last month, allegedly managed to send two of his close aides into the jail to serve him personally two hours before he himself walked in.
Yadav’s trusted cook Lakshman Mahto and his attendant Madan Yadav landed themselves in Birsa Munda Central Jail on December 23 after having an FIR lodged against them. They have since been at the 69-year-old leader’s beck and call in the jail, according to allegations that Ranchi police started investigating on Tuesday.
The two men, both in their early 40s, have been working for the former Bihar chief minister and former railway minister for several years. They were named in an FIR lodged at Lower Bazar police station in Ranchi on December 23, the day Yadav was convicted and sent to jail. The FIR was lodged by Madan Yadav’s nephew and Ranchi resident Sumit Yadav, who alleged that Lakshman and Madan assaulted him and snatched Rs 10,000 from him.
Madan and Lakshman were then swiftly arrested and forwarded to jail at 2:30 PM while the RJD chief was brought to jail from court at about 4:30 PM, said police sources. Sumit, Madan and Lakshman had first visited Doranda police station in Ranchi to lodge an FIR, but the cops there were not convinced and so they lodged the FIR at Lower Bazar police station, said sources.
“This case prima facie seems to be fabricated. We are probing under what circumstances the two men landed in jail,” said Ranchi DSP (City) Rajkumar Mehta. Lower Bazar police station SHO Suman Kumar Sinha said an FIR (No. 447/17) was registered, but denied that the Madan and Lakshman were taken to court by police. Ranchi SSP Kuldeep Dwivedi has ordered a probe to ascertain if police officials and jail staff were involved in the two men landing in jail.
When the RJD chief was lodged in the jail after his first conviction in September 2013, Madan Yadav had allegedly stayed with him in jail for the 87 days he spent there till coming out on bail.
Bihar’s ruling JD(U) and BJP slammed Lalu for “conspiring” to get his attendants into jail to serve him personally and demanded a thorough robe and suitable action against him. But RJD leaders denied that the Madan and Lakshman were serving Lalu in jail and said the duo had gone to jail as per proper judicial process.
“Lalu claims to be representing the poor and downtrodden. He claims to be the country’s tallest socialist leader, but this conspiracy proves that he is the worst feudal leader,” said JD(U) spokesperson and MLC Sanjay Singh. “By conspiring to put two poor people in jail, Lalu has proved his self-interests are above all concerns,” said BJP leader Nawak Kishore Yadav.
Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said Lalu is “incorrigible” and should be shifted away from Ranchi jail. But RJD leader Shakti Singh Yadav rubbished these charges, saying: “These are baseless charges made with political motives. Thousands of people in Bihar are ready to go to jail for Lalujee”.
