Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Ritlal Yadav was sent to 14 days of judicial custody by a court in Bihar's Patna on Thursday. This comes hours after he, along with his three close aides, surrendered in the Danapur court in connection with an extortion case. A large number of Yadav's supporters had also gathered outside the court after his surrender. Speaking to the media outside the courtroom, Yadav made serious allegations, claiming that there is a conspiracy to eliminate him. "There is a plot to murder me. My rivals have been provided with an AK-47 to carry out the killing. This is all part of a conspiracy to trap me, especially with elections around the corner," he said.
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.
Earlier in the day, 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.
Earlier on December 19 last year, Bihar Police raided the residence of Pinku Yadav, the brother of RJD MLA Ritlal Yadav from Danapur. The raid, led by Danapur Assistant Superintendent of Police Bhanu Pratap Singh, was conducted in connection with the investigation into the attempted murder of Patna AIIMS Chief Security Officer (CSO) Premnath Rai on August 22, 2024. During the raid, police allegedly recovered a large sum of Rs 11 lakh in cash, three illegal firearms, a note-counting machine, land-related documents, and other financial papers. The recovery has raised several questions regarding the source of the money and the nature of the documents found.
ASLO READ: Bihar: RJD MLA Ritlal Yadav, three close aides surrender in Danapur court in extortion case