Unable to make it to House, Pappu holds durbar in jail

Barely a month after the Patna High Court ordered an FIR to be registered against Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, for throwing a party in P...

Barely a month after the Patna High Court ordered an FIR to be registered against Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, for throwing a party in Patna’s Beur jail, the RJD MP from Madhepura is at it again.

Today afternoon, Bihar Jail IG Deepak Kumar Singh came across Yadav hosting a gathering of more than 50 supporters, in blatant violation of the jail manual.

Yadav is in jail under judicial custody after he was named accused in the murder of CPM MLA Ajit Sarkar in 1998.

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The gathering, sources said, was being held in an area where even visitors with permission cannot enter. Besides, the visitors’ entry was not recorded and all facilities for the meeting were provided by jail authorities, they added.

‘‘It could have posed severe security threats and was a blatant violation of the jail manual,’’ Singh told The Indian Express.

According to sources, when Singh demanded an explanation from Jail Superintendent P K Jha, Yadav said the visitors were his supporters from Madhepura.

But when the IG began to get tough, sources said, the MP contacted the powers-that-be and within minutes, Singh got a call from the Jail Minister, requesting him to backtrack. Singh, however, has denied this.

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The IG said he has written to the Home Department, recommending that Jha be suspended. ‘‘It is a severe lapse of duty by the superintendent,’’ he said.

In fact, the Patna HC had already ordered the transfer of Jha last week, following similar charges against him. The government shifted him to Sasaram, but he has not relinquished his current post yet. Sources said that Yadav went ahead with the meeting even though he knew that the IG would visit the jail to attend a programme organised in connection with World Aids Day.