The development comes after searches were conducted at 11 places in Danapur and other localities in the state capital after an FIR was registered against Yadav and five others on the basis of a complaint filed by a Patna-based builder.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Ritlal Yadav and his three close aides surrendered in Bihar’s Danapur court on Thursday in connection with an extortion case in Patna. This comes days after the police conducted searches at several locations linked to Yadav and his close aides as part of their investigation. Yadav is the sitting MLA from the Danapur assembly seat. Earlier on April 11, searches were conducted at 11 places in Danapur and other localities in the state capital after registering an FIR against Yadav and five others on the basis of a complaint filed by a Patna-based builder.
During the search operations, police also recovered more than Rs 10 lakh in cash, cheques of Rs 77 lakh, six blank cheques, 14 deeds related to the sale and purchase of properties and 17 chequebooks during the raids.
What did the police say?
The police said that the complainant alleged that he was getting extortion calls, life-threatening calls from the close aides of the MLA for the last several days. There are also allegations that the accused forged certain property-related documents. The complainant was constructing an apartment block in the Khagaul area of Patna, they added.
Speaking to the media, Sharat RS, Superintendent of Police (Patna West), stated that following the registration of an FIR and obtaining search warrants from the appropriate court, police teams had carried out raids at the Danapur residence of the MLA, as well as at locations connected to his associates.
Meanwhile, the MLA’s lawyer, Safdar Hayat, said that Yadav had no intention to evade the law and chose to surrender as soon as he came to know about the case. “It is being said that some builder has falsely accused him of extortion. As soon as he found out that he was wanted by the police, he surrendered voluntarily before the court, along with the others who had been named as accused,” Hayat added.
The lawyer further added that no bail plea has been filed yet, but one may be submitted in the coming days. “Perhaps we will file the bail application in a day or two,” he said, maintaining that the allegations are baseless and do not constitute a case of extortion.
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