The SDJM Court on Wednesday sentenced State’s former Agriculture Minister Yogendra Sao and his ally Randhir Gupta for two and half years in a case of extortion and threatening. The court granted bail immediately and it will be valid till February 27 since the sentence was of less than three years.
With this verdict, Sao becomes the second legislator of previous assembly of Jharkhand having found guilty by a court and sentenced for more than two years after Nizamuddin Ansari, former Rajdhanwar MlA and thus unfit to fight any election. He was in jail during last assembly election and the Congress had preferred to give ticket to his wife.
The court delivered the judgement in a case filed at Giddi police station on August 25, 2011 by the Manager of Ramgarh Iron and Sponge Factory. In the FIR, he had stated that Yogendra Sao, then an MlA, and his henchmen were continuously threatening him and his owner Mahavir Prasad Rungta for ransom. Randhir Gupta came to the factory office and demanded to either pay Rs5 lakhs or close down the factory on August 25.
According to the FIR, Rungta thereafter talked to Randhir and Sao. Then the manager paid Rs1 lakh to him. After hearing both sides SDJM Akhilesh Kumar announced his verdict in the case in presence of both Sao and Randhir. The court found the both guilty and sentenced them rigorous imprisonment of two and half years. APP Rajkumar represented the State while advocate KK Jaiswal appeared before the court for Sao.