Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Giriraj Singh has been booked in a land grab case in Danapur, Patna district.
The case against the Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and 32 others was filed at the Danapur police station on February 2, on the orders of a Special SC/ST court. The complainant, Ram Narayan Prasad, had filed a petition under Section 156(3) of the CrPC, accusing them of conspiring to grab his land, measuring 2 acres and six decimals.
Mr. Prasad, a Dalit resident of Asopur village of Danapur, claimed that he was abused by the accused when he protested their action.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Following the court order, an FIR has been filed under the relevant sections of the IPC and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against all the 33 accused… investigation is on,” Sandeep Kumar, in charge of the Danapur police station, told media persons.
A family member of the petitioner told The Hindu they were happy that an FIR had finally been registered “We’ll abide by whatever the court decides.” He said the family was being threatened by those who grabbed their land.
Mr. Singh, BJP MP from Nawada, had hit the headlines recently when over ₹2 crore, some of it in foreign currencies, was recovered from his house in Patna. The leader has often courted controversy with his hard Hindutva statements. He is said to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Opposition RJD has demanded the immediate resignation of Mr. Singh. “We would like to ask Chief Minister Nitish Kumar when his call of conscience would force him to rush to the Governor’s house with his letter announcing the end of JD(U)’s alliance with the BJP,” said Leader of the Opposition Tejaswi Yadav.
Mr. Kumar had walked out of the three-party Grand Alliance with the the RJD and the Congress soon after FIRs were filed against Mr. Lalu Prasad and his son in a fodder scam case. He had then declared that his conscience had told him to quit.
BJP spokesman Rajiv Ranjan said “Giriraj Singh has been a law-abiding citizen and will present his side of the story before the court when the time comes.”