Farmers Movement Archive

Pappu Yadav acquitted in 32-year-old kidnapping case

PATNA: Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) supremo and former MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav was acquitted by the MLA/MP special court in Madhepura on Monday for lack of evidence in the kidnapping case lodged in 1989. Yadav was arrested in the case from Patna on May 11 this year. The additional district and sessions judge-III, Nishikant Thakur, who is also in-charge of MLA/MP special court, pronounced the verdict in the presence of Yadav, who was escorted to Madhepura from Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) where he was admitted for treatment. Yadav's counsel Manoj Kumar Ambastha said his client will be released from judicial custody after completing the legal formalities. Earlier, while deposing before the court, the victims admitted that the case was lodged against Yadav under confusion. “We were never kidnapped, as was claimed in the FIR,” a senior lawyer quoted the victims as saying. As per the prosecution, Yadav was charged with holding Umakant Yadav and Ram Kumar Yadav captive following a dispute over the marriage of a girl in Madhepura. He was also accused of intimidating them to withdraw the case lodged with Murliganj police station on January 29, 1989. One Shailendra Yadav, stated to be the cousin of Ram Kumar, had lodged the case with Murliganj police station in Madhepura district against Yadav, who was known to them. A compromise petition was also filed by the victims in the court, paving the way for his early release. On July 19, a Patna court had granted him bail in connection with a case related to holding dharna and processions in the state capital. The agitation was launched by JAP in support of the farmers' protest against the farm bills. Earlier, the Patna high court had directed the MP/MLA special court to dispose of the case within six months. “I have full faith in the judicial system. I have been absolved of the charges by the honourable court,” a jubilant Yadav told reporters outside the Madhepura court. Back to his political stand on various issues, he said the Uttar Pradesh incident in which eight people were killed would boomerang on the ruling alliance at the Centre. “It is not an ordinary incident. It is a manifestation of the country’s democratic set-up crumbling down. Be it the case of farmers or youths, there is oppression all around,” he said and warned of its dire consequences in days to come. Meanwhile, rumour mills were agog over Yadav contesting the byelection from Tarapur assembly constituency in Munger district as JAP state president Raghvendra Singh Kushwaha had hinted at the party’s move on Sunday. JAP sources didn’t rule out the possibility of JAP merger with Congress in days to come.

The Times of India

2021-10-05

Patna