Bhagalpur clashes: Law's long arm short for Union Minister's son Arjit Shashwat

The acting chief justice of the Bhagalpur civil court sought the case diary from police to ascertain the role of Union minister Ashwini Choubey's son Arjit Shashwat in the communal flare-up in the district on March 17.

Arjit brandishes a sword in Patna on Ram Navami.

PATNA: The acting chief justice of the Bhagalpur civil court on Tuesday sought the case diary from police to ascertain the role of Union minister Ashwini Choubey's son Arjit Shashwat in the communal flare-up in the district on March 17. Hearing an anticipatory bail application filed by Arjit's counsel Shashi Ranjan Kumar, additional district and sessions judge (IV) Kumud Ranjan Singhhas not been arrested even though he was spotted at a Ram Navami procession in the state capital on Sunday though there is an arrest warrant against him. The court has not stopped police from taking action against the accused. "A police team has been sent to Patna to arrest him (Arjit). The police carried out raids at his hideouts but he could not be arrested," Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manoj Kumar said on Tuesday. The SSP said he has sought the assistance of his counterparts in other districts to arrest Arjit. "We are working on the intelligence inputs and hope to nab the accused at the earliest," the SSP said. He denied there was pressure on the cops to go easy on the BJP leader. A retired police officer admitted that the cops usually provide ample opportunity to "VIPs" in sensational cases and cited how RJD MLA from Nawada Raj Ballabh Prasad got almost one month time to surrender in court after he was accused of raping a minor girl. "The police move cautiously in such cases as they don't want to invite public unrest," the officer confided. A BJP leader close to Arjit said on Tuesday that Arjit would surrender in court if his bail petition was rejected on March 29. "He is mentally prepared to do so, but only after March 29," the leader said. JDU leader K.C. Tyagi on Tuesday asked alliance partner BJP to ensure that Arjit respects the law and surrenders before the court. -The Telegraph Calcutta