Bihar MLA Sarfaraj Alam was arrested by the Government Railway Police on Sunday, a day after the ruling Janata Dal (United) suspended him for his alleged misconduct with a woman passenger on a train.
The railway police had interrogated him for four hours on Saturday evening. He was summoned once again on Sunday for further questioning.
“The Jokihat MLA Sarfaraj Alam has been arrested as the charges made against him under various sections have been found to be true. He is still being questioned by the police,” A.S. Thakur, a senior Government Railway Police official, told journalists at the Patna Junction.
Later, in the night, the MLA was released on conditional bail on two sureties of Rs 20,000 each. His bodyguard and personal staff have also been released, reports PTI . The conditions include depositing his passport so that he cannot leave the country during pendency of the probe. Other conditions included he would neither meet the complainant nor apply pressure the couple, will cooperate in the ongoing investigation, will acquire a regular bail from a court and deposit two sureties of Rs 20,000 each.
The JD(U) suspended Sarfaraj Alam from the party on Saturday for his “conduct and behaviour that sullied the image of the party.” This was after a long meeting attended by party president Sharad Yadav and other top party leaders at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s residence.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad had said the MLA, son of his party MP Mohd. Taslimuddin, should be sent to jail as such people “bring a bad name” to the government. “No one will be spared for misbehaving with our mothers and sisters,” Mr. Prasad had said.
Indrapal Singh Bedi and his wife had complained that the MLA misbehaved with them and abused them on the Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express last week. The MLA had then denied he was on the train. But after the police found sufficient evidence against him, he admitted he did travel by the train, but denied misbehaving with the couple.
Meanwhile, at a function on Sunday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said “there was a rule of law, there is a rule of law and there will be rule of law in the State. Did we hesitate even for a moment to suspend the party MLA after we got to know there was something wrong?” He was addressing party workers at a function organised to celebrate the late Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur’s birth anniversary.
Mr. Kumar indicated that Mr. Alam may be expelled from the party. “Nobody will be allowed to the take law into their own hands and my government is committed to development and justice,” he said.
(with inputs from PTI)
