Sadhu Yadav. Telegraph picture

Patna, Nov. 8: A non-bailable arrest warrant has been issued against former MP Anirudh Prasad Yadav, alias Sadhu Yadav, in connection with the assault on a senior IAS officer, N.K. Sinha, in his official chamber in 2001.

Sadhu is one of the brothers-in-law of the RJD chief, Lalu Prasad.

Though judicial magistrate Ravi Ranjan had passed the order on November 5, the non-bailable arrest warrant was issued from the court today. Earlier, a bailable warrant was issued in the same case on July 27, 2011. Sadhu reportedly went into hiding after coming to know about the July court order.

Sinha was then posted as the transport secretary. Sadhu, who was then a member of the legislative council (MLC), entered the office of the transport secretary at Vishweshwaraiah Bhavan on January 29, 2001 and pressured the officer to transfer Sitaram Paswan to Gopalganj as enforcement inspector. A large number of supporters and Sadhu’s bodyguards had accompanied the MLC.

When Sinha told Sadhu that the former had been recently transferred there and hence, it would not be right to transfer Paswan, Sadhu got agitated. Sadhu’s supporters manhandled Sinha and threatened him with dire consequences.

Sinha lodged a case with Shastrinagar police station against Sadhu, his bodyguards and supporters, charging them with assault, causing hindrance in the discharge of official duty and illegal trespass.

Sinha, in his FIR, said he was holding a meeting with department officials at the time of the incident. Sadhu’s clout could be gauged from the fact that a senior police officer posted in Patna visited Sadhu’s official residence and granted him bail.

Sadhu, however, switched over to the Congress and unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha election from Gopalganj.

At present, Sinha is on central deputation and posted with the ministry of human resource development in New Delhi. Efforts to contact Sinha to seek his comment proved futile.

The next date of hearing has been fixed on January 13 next year.

Sadhu was in the news recently after a Patna court took cognisance of him involvement in connection with the multi-crore flood relief scam case. Sadhu had sold a car to Bhagwan Jha, the father of Santosh Jha, the purported mastermind behind the scam that involved former Patna district magistrate Gautam Goswami (now dead).

Sadhu has been charged with receiving money from Santosh Jha in his bank account at the Secretariat branch of the State Bank of India.