PATNA: It took more than six months for the Patna police to lodge an FIR against Union minister
Giriraj Singh and 32 others in the land grab case despite the special SC/ST court order in this regard on August 14 last year, said complainant
Ram Narayan Prasad on Friday. He alleged that the delay was because of political pressure on the police.
Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj, however, refuted the allegations. "I will inquire into the matter as to why the FIR was lodged after six months," he said.
Sources said a copy of the complaint petition filed by Prasad along with court order was received by Patna SSP on August 14 last year. He forwarded the complaint petition along with respective court order to the Danapur police station house officer (SHO) with instruction to lodge an FIR, which was finally registered on February 2 this year when the new SHO,
Sandeep Kumar Singh, took charge of Danapur police station.
Besides Giriraj, who represents Nawada Lok Sabha constituency, three former circle officers - Shiv Ranjan, Madan Kumar and Kumar Kundan Lal, a former circle inspector Anuj Kumar and three former state revenue employees of Danapur — Suresh Prasad, Chandrika Prasad and
Manoj Kumar — are accused in the case.
Prasad, a retired deputy collector (land reform), had received 2.56 acre land at Lekhanagar in Danapur from his maternal uncle
Bipat Ram in 1948. Prasad told TOI over phone that a part of the said land was grabbed by forging document and sold many times to different people.
"The former Danapur SHO did not lodge the FIR probably due to political pressure as Giriraj was one of the accused. When Sandeep got posted at Danapur police station a couple of months back, he lodged the FIR when the matter was brought to his notice," Prasad told TOI.
Incidentally, the court order to lodge the FIR in the land grab case had came soon after the grand alliance government collapsed in state and a new NDA government was formed in July last year.
