Patna: Suspended RJD MLA from Nawada, Raj Ballabh Prasad, was on Wednesday produced before a trial court in Patna in connection with a rape case. The trial was shifted from Biharsharif in Nalanda to Patna recently.

The controversial lawmaker has been booked under Sections 376 (rape) and 366 (kidnapping) of IPC. Earlier, he was shifted to Beur Central Jail in Patna from Biharsharif and subsequently produced in a court here.

The court later remanded him to judicial custody at the Beur Central Jail.

The records of the case were transferred to the special MLA/MP court in Patna from Biharsharif in the wake of the recent Supreme Court directive to conduct trial of cases against MLAs and MPs in the special courts.

Earlier, the raped girl's family had apprehended a threat from the lawmaker and sought police protection. Subsequently, then Nalanda superintendent of police (SP) Kumar Ashish provided security to the girl and her family members. "Witnesses in the case have already been examined. Trial was delayed because of some technical reasons," said a lawyer, who is closely monitoring the case. In a complaint lodged with the Nalanda women's police station, the 15-year-old girl had alleged that she was raped at the MLA's residence at English Pathra village in Nawada district on February 6, 2016.

Raj Ballabh apart, five other accused in the case are Sulekha Devi, Radha Devi, Tulsi Devi, Chhoti Kumari and Sandeep. Sulekha and her relatives were charged with supplying girls to the MLA in lieu of money.