Rajesh Ranjan, popularly known as Pappu Yadav, a newly elected member of parliament from Bihar state, was arrested on Monday for allegedly trying to extort money from a businessman. The incident occurred on June 4, when votes for India’s Lok Sabha elections were being counted.
Police said Yadav had called up the businessman, who runs a furniture sales business in Bihar’s Purnea district, and said, ” ₹“Damage amounting to Rs 100 crore,” PTI reported. The businessman then filed a complaint and filed a case against the Congress leader and his aide Amit Yadav at Mufassil police station.
In his complaint, the businessman has alleged that Pappu Yadav had made similar demands in 2021 and 2023. Police said the councillor also threatened to “kill” the businessman if his demands were not met and warned that he would have to “deal” with Yadav for the next five years.
Further investigations are ongoing.
Yadav, who has been accused of using heavy-handed tactics in a political career spanning more than three decades, won from Purnea constituency by a margin of 23,847 votes against two-term JD(U) MP Santosh Kushwaha. The independent candidate secured over 567,000 votes while the JD(U) candidate bagged 543,000. Meanwhile, RJD candidate Bima Bharti, a JD(U) turncoat who had abandoned the state assembly, finished third and lost her security deposit. She managed just 27,120 votes.
Before joining the Congress, Yadav was the leader of the Jan Adhikar Party, which formally merged with the Indian National Congress ahead of the general elections, but he decided to contest as an independent candidate as the party was unwilling to take on a “friendly fight” with its ally, the RJD.
The Bihar MP is married to Indian National Congress member Ranjit Ranjan.
Input from PTI
