Responding to allegations that the newly appointed law minister in the new Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, Kartikeya Singh alias Kartik Master avoided surrendering in a court or police in a kidnapping case, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patriach Lalu Prasad Yadav slammed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi is a lier.
A massive controversy erupted in Bihar on Wednesday over induction of RJD leader Singh as the law minister, with the BJP claiming that an arrest warrant in a kidnapping case was pending against him.
When asked by reporters to respond to the issues, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said "mujhe nahi pata" (I have no information).
Meanwhile, Modi sought immediate dismissal of Singh and asked how someone "who was supposed to surrender before a court in connection with a kidnapping case got inducted in the state cabinet".
Sources close to BJP told news agency PTI that Singh was supposed to surrender in Danapur court on August 16, but, instead, he showed up at the Raj Bhavan to take oath as a minister. Even Modi said that Singh was an accused in a 2014 kidnapping case, along with 16 others, including former Mokama MLA Anant Singh.
According to reports, Singh, who is close to RJD's Bahubali leader Anant Singh, is facing the charge of kidnapping in Patna district. A case in this regard was registered at the Bihta police station in 2014 (Case number (835/14).
Singh was booked for being involved in the kidnapping of a person, named Rajiv Ranjan in 2014 and an FIR was registered against him at the Bihta police station. Even the victim had given a statement under CrPC of 164 in the court where he had mentioned the name of the Law Minister.
Refuting the allegations, Singh said, "The allegations levelled against me are politically influenced and not proved yet. We will take action as per the law." Meanwhile, a senior RJD leader informed PTI that Singh has been granted interim protection till September 1 by the court.