PAPPU IN TROUBLE FOR BARING RUDY’S FLEET OF AMBULANCES

The controversial Jan Adhikar Party president Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, was arrested here on Tuesday morning, on allegedly flimsy charges, a couple of days after he claimed to have exposed alleged "ambulance hoarding'' by the national spokesman of the BJP Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

A word about the alleged hoarding, first: On May 7, Pappu Yadav arrived in Saran – the home district of Rudy, where he visited a skill development centre. Yadav was more than taken aback when he found a fleet of 60odd ambulances parked on the premises, bumper to bumper, covered with dust and inoperative.

A quintessential politician, Yadav lost no time in turning the media spotlight on how the ambulances, purchased under the MPLAD fund, were not being used to mitigate the suffering of the Covid-hit.

Rudy was later constrained to come before the media and admit that he had indeed purchased 65 ambulances for village heads (Mukhiyas). The vehicles were lying idle as no driver was available, he contended.

He further claimed he had written to the district magistrate requisitioning the services of drivers.

The media hullabaloo over the parked ambulances recoiled on Yadav. On May 9, the personal staff of Rudy filed an FIR alleging that Yadv had trespassed on the premises of the MP and damaged some ambulances. Later, teams from five police stations descended on his house and Pappu, a former MP, was detained for violating the Corona protocol.

It was alleged that he had visited the Patna Medical College Hospital without an authorised pass.

Pappu agreed not to move out of his house and gave a written undertaking to the deputy SP. He was, however, advised to come to the police station in his vehicle. As he reached the Gandhi Maidan police station, his vehicle was seized for violating corona guidelines and he was arrested!

Later, in the af ternoon, a team of Madehpura police, travelled 300 km, all the way to Patna, to arrest him in a case of kidnapping registered against him in 1989. He was out on bail in this case, but his bail bond was cancelled on September 29,2020, due to his nonappearance. Among others, Jeetan Ram Manjhi, a former chief minister, has come out in support of Pappu Yadav even though his son is a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet.

The Congress and the CPI(ML) also came out in support of the former MP and alleged he was arrested for exposing the "misdeeds" of the BJP MP from Saran. Hundreds of supporters of Pappu violated Corona cur few and demonstrated outside Gandhi Maidan police station where he was lodged.