In high-voltage drama that transpired late Friday night, independent Bihar MP Rajesh Ranjan, popularly known as Pappu Yadav, was arrested by Patna Police from his residence in a forgery case dating back to 1995, officials said.
Yadav, who represents the Purnea Lok Sabha constituency, initially refused to accompany the police team that had arrived at his Mandiri locality house, claiming they were carrying a warrant for the attachment of property but not for his arrest. The police were carrying a warrant issued by an MP/MLA court in a case registered under section 467 (forgery of documents) of the Indian Penal Code.
Yadav had returned from New Delhi barely an hour earlier after attending the ongoing Parliament session. He was taken into custody to be produced before a competent court on Saturday.
However, his health deteriorated following his arrest, prompting the police to take him to the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Science on Friday night, after which he was shifted to Patna Medical College and Hospital on Saturday.
Dr. Rajiv Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Patna Medical College and Hospital, said that Yadav’s medical examination was underway.
Yadav was arrested after he failed to appear in an alleged land dispute case from 1995 that involves Sections 419, 420, 468, 448, 506 and 120B and is linked to the Gardanibagh police station.
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"This is a 1995 case which was under the old IPC, now replaced by the BNS (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita), involving sections 419, 420, 468, 448, 506, and 120B. The arrest is being made under these sections. This case concerns the Gardanibagh police station. The trial was ongoing in court, and the MP was supposed to appear, but he did not appear on the scheduled date. Therefore, he is being arrested,” Patna SP City Bhanu Pratap Singh told reporters.
A large number of Yadav’s supporters gathered at his residence when police landed there for his arrest, with many of them arguing with the personnel even as the MP expressed fear for his safety.
Claiming to have been targeted for raising issues critical of the state government, Yadav said he had already planned to appear before the court on Saturday.
“I have been telling these police personnel that I shall be appearing before the court tomorrow. In fact, that is the very reason I came here today. But, of course, I will not hand myself over to them,” he said initially.
The controversial MP, a history-sheeter and former chief of the Jan Adhikar Party, also accused the police of acting casually and claimed that some of the personnel were in plain clothes.
“They are misbehaving with my supporters and me. Moreover, they failed to furnish an arrest warrant when I asked for the same. All that they could produce was a warrant to attach my property,” Yadav said.
“This has always been the case with me whenever my deeds expose the shortcomings of the government in the state. Police had tried to hound me out during the Covid pandemic when I was serving the people whom the government had forsaken.
Of late, I have been highlighting the ineptitude of the government in handling incidents like the recent death of a NEET aspirant, which has brought to light the insecurity faced by girl students living in hostels in the city,” he added.
He also said he suspected the police might harm him and that he wanted to go directly to court instead of the police station.
“I have doubts that these people might have killed me. I will go straight to the Court. I will not go to the police station. If they want, they can house arrest me. The Court has called me. Police reached here in civil uniform like criminals. I thought they had come to kill me. Is this a criminal's house? There was a case registered around 35 years ago, and the police came to arrest me in connection with that case,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Yadav told reporters at the airport that he had been receiving phone calls from girl students who alleged that their hostel inmates were being pushed into the flesh trade.
The MP, who is married to a Congress Rajya Sabha MP and supports the party, challenged Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who holds the Home portfolio, to act against the alleged racket after a NEET aspirant was found dead in her hostel earlier last month. The forensic team found traces of semen on her clothes, which led to the suspension of two police officials of conducting shoddy investigation.
He also mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in the Lok Sabha.
“Fear had prevented the leader, who claims to have a 56-inch chest, from facing the Lok Sabha. He would do better to go and find shelter at some secure island,” he had said, without taking his name.
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