Patna, Aug. 8: A BJP leader on Wednesday accused JD(U) MLC Hulas Pandey of hatching a conspiracy to kill him and paying Rs 5 lakh as contract to a Bhojpur-based gangster for the job.

“Police have recorded a conversation between Hulas and one Ajit Rai of Bhojpur. Hulas was heard ordering Ajit that a contract had been given to a gangster to kill me,” Visheshwar Ojha, a member of the BJP state working committee, said.

Hulas is the brother of JD-(U) MLA from Tarari in Bhojpur Narendra Kumar Pan-dey, alias Sunil Pandey, and is in the eye of storm for his alleged links with the assa-ilants who killed Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh “Mukhiya” on June 1 in Ara. Ojha, who had unsuccessfully contested the election for the post of an MLC, sought chief minister Nitish Kumar’s intervention for security.

Accusing the Bhojpur police of “adopting a soft attitude” towards Hulas, Ojha said: “Action has been initiated against Hulas under Section 107 of CrPC instead of Section 115 (abetment of offence punishable with death or imprisonment of life if offence not committed) or the Crime Control Act (CCA).”

He added that Munni Devi, the BJP MLA from Shahpur, had raised the issue of threat to Ojha’s life in the Assembly but nothing has happened. “Several letters were written to the district administration and police officials to draw their attention towards the inadequate security, but to no avail,” he said. Ojha alleged that a witness in the “Mukhiya” murder case had told court that he heard four persons plotting his elimination.