As Lalu went to jail, his aides had already arrived
Two Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) workers surrendered in a false case to lodge themselves in Ranchi’s central jail on the same day party chief Lalu Prasad was convicted of corruption and remanded to the same prison, police said on Tuesday.
The two workers — Madan Yadav and Lakshman Kumar — were both residents of Ranchi. They were named in a First Information Report (FIR) by another local resident, Sumit Yadav, who alleged the duo had beaten him up and stolen ₹10,000 from him.
HT has seen a copy of the FIR, which said the incident happened around 8.15 am on December 23, the day Prasad was convicted in a fodder scam case. Sumit took his complaint to Doranda police station but the officer in-charge refused to register an FIR. Sumit then went to Lower Bazar police station where it was accepted.
Within hours, Madan and Lakshman surrendered before a local court and were remanded in judicial custody to Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Central Jail.
Police officials said on the condition of anonymity that this entire process was completed before 4pm on December 23, when a special Central Bureau of Investigation court convicted Prasad.
The speed with which the process was completed aroused the police’s suspicion and a probe found that the complaint was false.
“We have found that the case lodged by Sumit was false and no incident of brawl between the parties took place. We will initiate action against them,” said Ranchi senior police superintendent Kuldip Dwivedi.
RJD rubbished reports that Lakshman was Prasad’s cook but confirmed that both were party workers. “It’s wrong to say that the duo has gone to jail purposely. Both are party workers and had been to jail in connection with a criminal case lodged against them with a Ranchi police station,” party spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav said.
RANCHI: