Patna, Nov. 11: Anirudh Prasad Yadav alias Sadhu Yadav, the former MP and brother-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, surrendered before the judicial magistrate in Patna today. The court, however, granted him bail after he furnished two securities of Rs 10,000 each.
A non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against Yadav by judicial magistrate Ravi Ranjan in connection with an assault case involving a senior IAS officer N.K. Sinha in 2001.
Sadhu reached the court at 11am today dodging the police dragnet and surrendered before the court. The police had launched a hunt for Yadav following the warrant.
The incident happened when Sinha was posted as the transport secretary. According to the FIR lodged with Shastrinagar police station in Patna, Sadhu and his supporters entered the office of the transport secretary at Visweshwaraiah Bhavan on January 18, 2001, and pressurised him to transfer Sitaram Paswan to Gopalganj as enforcement inspector.
When Sinha told Sadhu, who was then a member of the Legislative Council, that it was not possible for him to transfer Paswan immediately, the latter lost his cool and hurled abuses at the officer. The MLC later “manhandled” him and threatened him with dire consequences.
The next day, Sinha submitted a written complaint to then chief secretary Mukund Prasad, who had reportedly recommended disciplinary action against Sadhu.
Sinha further approached then Patna senior superintendent of police Sunil Kumar, who sent an officer to record the statement of the transport secretary. Subsequently, an FIR was lodged with the Shastrinagar police station against Sadhu, his bodyguards and supporters on January 29, 2001, charging them with assault, causing hindrance in the discharge of official duty and illegal trespassing.
Sinha, in his FIR, said the incident occurred when he was holding a meeting with senior department officials at his office. The chargesheet against Sadhu was submitted on February 22, 2002. The court took cognizance against Sadhu the same day.
The court issued an arrest warrant against Sadhu when he did not turn up even after repeated summons.
