Lok Sabha polls 2014: RJD candidate goes missing after arrest warrants

PATNA: Apprehending arrest after issuance of two non-bailable warrants against him in election related cases, Maharajganj sitting MP and RJD candidate Prabhunath Singh has gone missing.

"The police is looking for Singh to execute the warrants, but he is not present in the district. As per our information he has gone to New Delhi," said Saran district magistrate and district electoral officer Kundan Kumar.

Singh, known as a muscleman leader of the area, who is already facing a few criminal cases, had two fresh FIRs registered against him since April 17 for allegedly threatening the DM as well as violating the Model Code of Conduct meant for the polls.

"I saw the video footage of the press conference Singh called to talk about me. Referring to me and my allegedly partisan role, he said that this has become a matter of life and death. He told his supporters that he is going to procure a 'kafan', if he dies it should be put on him and if I die, it should be covered with it," said Kumar.

The Saran DM said this was criminal intimidation and he had informed Election Commission about it. An FIR in this connection was lodged against Singh and his supporters by a deputy collector.

"Singh has a habit of intimidating government officials. He had manhandled a probationer IAS officer Alok Ranjan Ghosh during the Lok Sabha by-elections in the constituency in 2009. There have been information about several such incidents," he said.

The issue snowballed as the Saran DM took action over a speech by Singh in which he urged his supporters not to care about their lives and press the EVM button in his party's favour as many times as possible. When asked for clarification by the administration, he called it 'nikamma' (worthless).

"This amounted to a call for bogus voting and Singh was charged under various sections of the Representation of People's Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Section 124 (A) of the IPC which deals with sedition," said Kumar.