Pappu Yadav held in 32-year-old case

New Delhi: At the time when just selected politicians are out on the streets to help people with medicines, food, oxygen, etc, the arrest of former parliamentarian Pappu Yadav in alleged violation of coronavirus lockdown has not gone down well with Covid-19 patients who are struggling to get beds, life-saving medicines, ambulances, oxygen cylinders, etc.

Interestingly, the arrest of the controversial leader has created ripples in the Bihar government, which is led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with the support of BJP, as the move has been criticized by JD-U's partner Jitan Ram Manjhi, whose son is a minister and BJP's ally Mukesh Sahni -- a minister in the Nitish government.

However, the Bihar government faced public outrage over the arrest of Pappu Yadav just three days after he had exposed BJP MP and former Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy for keeping around 30 ambulances in his parliamentary constituency unused.

In a damage control move, officials in Bihar police department explained that Yadav has been not been arrested in the matter of ambulance row rather the former MP rather has been arrested in a case registered in 1989 as a warrant of property attachment was issued against him in this regard by the Madhepura court of ACJM-1 on March 22.

Yadav has also been arrested in a case registered at the Pir Bahore police station in Patna for creating a ruckus at the nearby Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) at early in the morning. A case has been lodged against Yadav under the Disaster Management Act and IPC sections involving thwarting government servants from the discharge of their duty.

However, the experts have questioned the arrest of Pappu Yadav in a 32-year-old case as the police waiting for what for over a month to execute the warrant, Also, the warrant dated March 22 is for property attachment. He was picked up by the police from his Mandiri residence.

It was not exactly known what happened at PMCH but the arrest of Yadav, who now heads the Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) which is yet to taste electoral success, drew flak from his supporters as well as sympathizers within the ruling

NDA.

If a public representative serves the people day and night and ends up being arrested, then it is an instance that is portentous for humanity, said Jitan Ram Manjhi.