Fugitive RJD MlA Rajballabh Prasad Yadav, accused of raping a minor girl, surrendered on Thursday in a court, after giving the police a slip for over a month.
Yadav, the MlA from Nawada, went underground when the girl filed an FIR after the intervention of the top police officials on February 9. The 15-years old girl, who was preparing to appear in Matriculation exam, had been taken to the MlA’s house in Nalanda district by a woman Sulekha Devi, already in police custody, on February 6 on a false pretext. In the presence of top cops the victim identified the place where she was sexually assaulted and also her tormentor when the MlA’s photograph was shown to her.
The RJD MlA, known to be close to party supremo lalu Prasad, surrendered in the Biharsharif court and was forwarded to 14-days judicial custody. Nalanda SP said the police would move petition seeking Yadav’s remand. He said the accused MlA would be put on speedy trail and charge sheet against would be field in a week.
The police had absolutely no inkling about Yadav’s surrender. Many police teams had been constituted which were reportedly conducting raids at different places in Nalanda, Nawada, Patna, Gaya and other parts of the State. His moveable and immovable properties had been confiscated including his cultivable lands and bank accounts frozen. But the police failed to get wind of three term MlA and a former Minister who had been arrested for raping a girl in 1994 as a result of which the RJD denied him ticket in 1995 Assembly election. However, Yadav contested as independent and won and the RJD co-opted him. In Rabri Devi Government he was made a Minister. After the rape charge on February 9, the RJD had suspended him from the party.
The Nitish Kumar Government came under sharp criticism for the rape incident and police failure to nab the culprit. The CM though repeatedly said that police was doing its job and Yadav would not find space to escape from the hands of the law. However, when the police failed to get an inkling of his location, the opposition lambasted the Government accusing it of working under the pressure of lalu.
Yadav’s surrender in the court is a victory of sorts for lalu and a sounding slap on the face of Government, alleged BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Thursday. “The police could touch the accused due to his political clout. He surrendered when lalu and Rabri asked him to do so,” Modi further alleged and challenged the CM to put him on speedy trial and get him convicted in a month.
He also said that attachment of his properties was a farce and asked how a public representative could escape police for over a month and surrendered unchallenged.
Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav said the MlA should have surrendered earlier. “If he thinks he is not a culprit he should have not run away and surrendered. It was due to police pressure that he has to surrender,” he added.