Anticipatory bail plea of minister's son gets rejected

A Bhagalpur court on Saturday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Union minister and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Choubey's son Arijit Shashwat, facing arrest in a case relating to communal clashes in the district. Additional District and Sessions Judge Kumud Ranjan turned down the bail plea filed by the 38-year-old Shashwat. The court pronounced a oneline order that Shashwat's plea is rejected, his lawyer Viresh Kumar Mishra told PTI. Shashwat had moved the court after an arrest warrant was issued against him a week earlier.

"We are conducting raids in Bhagalpur and other parts of Bihar to trace Shashwat," Bhagalpur SSP Manoj Kumar said. He said Shashwat's mobile phone has been switched off. Kumar said, "If required, we may initiate action against Shashwat under sections 82 and 83 of Criminal Procedure Code, relating to declaring a person as an absconder and attachment of his property".

The arrest warrant was issued against Shashwat and eight others after they were named in an FIR filed at Nathnagar police station of Bhagalpur in connection with the clashes that broke out between members of two communities on March 17.

Bihar violence: 212 arrested, 15 cases filed

Patna: A total of 15 cases have been registered and 212 people have been arrested in connection with the communal violence in Bihar, the police said on Saturday.