Patna, April 25 (Inditop) Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP and murder convict Pappu Yadav was Saturday arrested in Bihar’s Purnia district for violating the model code of conduct by campaigning for his mother, who is contesting the Madhepura seat, without permission, police said.
Yadav, barred from contesting elections due to his conviction in a murder case, was arrested by police from Safdalpur village in Purnia, about 400 km from Patna, when he was busy in a road show for his mother Shanti Priya Devi. His mother is fighting as an independent candidate but with Congress support.
An official of the district administration said that Pappu Yadav was first detained and later arrested for violating the model code of conduct. “We have received a complaint and found him violating the model code of conduct by holding a road show without proper permission,” the official said.
After his arrest, Pappu Yadav was taken to the Kasba police station and a case registered against him.
A few days ago, Pappu Yadav conducted a road show in Banmankhi without permission from district authorities. “He was under a scanner after a complaint was lodged against him,” a district official said.
Early this week the wife of slain Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) legislator Ajit Sarkar, who is fighting elections from Purnia, urged the Election Commission to provide her adequate security against her Pappu Yadav, who was convicted for her husband’s murder.
Madhavi Sarkar, contesting as a Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML) candidate, told the poll panel that she feels threatened by Pappu Yadav.
“Pappu Yadav is posing a serious threat to peace in Purnia. Free, fair and peaceful polling is not possible unless he is put behind bars,” she said.
Sarkar, who was locked in a feud with Pappu Yadav over farm labourers, was shot dead with his driver Harendra Sharma and party worker Ashfaqur Rehman in Purnia, on June 14, 1998.
Pappu Yadav, the sitting MP from Madhepura, was held guilty of Sarkar’s murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by a lower court last year. But the Patna High Court granted him bail two months ago.
He is now busy campaigning in the constituency for his mother.
Earlier this month, the Patna High Court rejected Pappu Yadav’s plea to suspend his conviction in the murder case so that he could contest the Lok Sabha election.
After he was barred from contesting, he revolted against the Lalu Prasad-Ram Vilas Paswan alliance and said he would campaign for the Congress.
His wife Ranjita Ranjan, a Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) MP, has also defected to the Congress and is contesting from the Supaul constituency.
rounak