Non-bailable warrants issued against Sadhu in flood scam

PATNA: Sadhu Yadav, the RJD MP from Gopalganj, has bagged another non-bailable arrest warrant in a forgery and cheating case related to the multi-crore Bihar flood relief scam.

The MP, who is Union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s brother-in-law, has been on the run from Bihar law enforcement agencies for over two months even though he was spotted in Parliament engaged in a scuffle with a JD(U) MP at the end of Monsoon sessionwhich ended on August 25.

The order was issued in Patna by vigilance judge RN Prasad who rejected Mr Yadav’s plea for a quashing of the Bihar Vigilance Investigation Bureau’s prayer for a NBW.

The case in question has to do with the transfer of Rs 6 lakh of “slush money” to Yadav’s account from the account of the alleged mastermind behind the Bihar flood relief scam, Santosh Jha.

Sadhu Yadav had claimed that the money in his account had come from the sale of an Opel Astra car to one Sribhagwan Jha, father of Santhosh, who is currently lodged in the Beur Central jail.

However, the Vigilance Bureau had countered Yadav’s claim and registered a forgery and cheating case against him. The bureau contended that the vehicle in question did not belong to him so there was no question of any sale having taken place.

The court posted the hearing of the anticipatory bail plea of Sadhu Yadav and a regular bail petition of a co-accused, the district transport officer of Patna Brijraj Rai, for September 16.