A massive controversy has jolted the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar Government, with reports of newly-elected Law Minister Kartikeya Singh, alias Kartik Master, facing an arrest warrant for an alleged link to a 2014 kidnapping case.
Kartikeya, a teacher by profession, was elected as MLC on a RJD ticket. He is known for his close association with jailed RJD leader Ananat Singh, aka the Don of Mokama.
Kartikeya was supposed to surrender in a court, or before the police in the case on August 16, the day he took oath of office, but he did not do so.
On being asked by reporters about the warrant against Kartikeya, Nitish said he has no information about any such case. “I am not aware of it,” the CM said.
The choice of Kartikeya as the Law minister came as a surprise, just because of his
association with Anant Singh. A section in the JD(U)
opposed his induction in the Cabinet, but Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav is reported to have prevailed upon Nitish Kumar to include Kartikeya from the Bhumihar quota.
Kartikeya was allegedly involved in the kidnapping of a person named Rajiv Ranjan in 2014, and an FIR was lodged at the Bihta police station. The victim had recorded his statement under CrPC of 164 in the court where he had mentioned the name of the RJD leader.
The warrant was issued in the first week of August and he had to surrender before the court or police till August 16.
On the case against him, Kartikeya said, “The allegations levelled against me are politically motivated, and are not proven yet. We will take action as per the law.”
Addressing the media, his lawyers said, “'Karthik is not the primary accused in the case that has been registered. The allegation is baseless. It is said by the accused on record that Karthik was seen on the way. Police have acquitted Karthik in its last circular, freeing him of the charge. Now it is the job of the police to inform the court about it. We will just say that we had gone to the court under the legal process of law and we had applied for anticipatory bail immediately. The court had given a stay till September 1.”
Demanding Singh’s immediate dismissal, senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Modi sought to know how someone “who was supposed to surrender before a court in connection with a kidnapping case got inducted in the State Cabinet”.
He said that Singh was an accused in a 2014 kidnapping case, along with 16 others, including former Mokama MLA Anant Singh.
Another senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad hit out at the Bihar Government over inducting Kartikeya Singh into the Cabinet as the Law Minister.
“We expect Patna HC to take serious notice of this. I expect from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to show some courage and sack Kartikeya Singh immediately, and take strict action against him” he said.