Bihar: JD(U) legislator receives threat calls, lodges FIR

Ramashankar | TNN | Updated: Apr 6, 2020, 11:54 IST

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PATNA: JD(U) MLC Dinesh Prasad Prasad Singh lodged an FIR at Sadar police station in Muzaffarpur town on Sunday after he received threat and extortion calls on his cellphone on Saturday.
Singh, who is the husband of LJP MP from Vaishali, Veena Devi, said in his complaint that he received an anonymous call on Saturday morning. The caller hurled abuses on him and also threatened him with dire consequences. Singh, however, didn’t take notice considering it to be the handiwork of some mischievous elements. But he got serious when frequent calls were made on his phone and the caller allegedly demanded huge money as extortion. “At least four calls were made on my cellphone between 7.15pm and 10.30pm on Saturday,” he told the police.
He informed SSP Jayant Kant, who asked Sadar police station house officer (SHO) Mithilesh Jha to look into the matter on a priority basis. When contacted, Jha said, “We have taken the matter as a big challenge and the accused will be arrested at the earliest.” He, however, didn’t rule out the possibility of extortion demand as one of the reasons behind the threat calls.
SSP Jayant Kant said the case was being probed from different angles. An investigating officer said the JD(U) leader has already provided the mobile number used in the crime.
Singh along with his family members lived at Nand Colony under Sadar police station in Muzaffarpur town. Singh had earlier received similar threat calls during the 2019 Lok Sabha election in which his wife Veena was an LJP nominee from Vaishali.
A source said the ruling party leader has got into a legal wrangling following construction of a building purportedly for a private school near Kalambagh Chowk under Kazi Mohammadpur police station in the town.
In addition, his close connection with real estate dealers of the region is an open secret. “Our investigation will be based on scientific evidences and not merely on the statements,” a senior police officer associated with the investigation said over phone.
This is the third incident of a VIP in the state receiving threat calls during the 21-day nationwide lockdown. Earlier, a youth hailing from Rohtas district was arrested from Ludhiana in Punjab for his Facebook post in which he had issued threat to CM Nitish Kumar. An FIR was lodged against the arrested youth, Dharmendra Kumar Pandey, on the statement of Dinara police station SHO Siyaram Sah on March 31.
That apart, Darbhanga DM SM Thiyagarajan was also threatened with dire consequences on his Facebook page for issuing directive to the officials to ensure medical examination of those who had returned from Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin in New Delhi in the wake of Covid-19. The police have, however, failed to make any headway in the Darbhanga DM threat case so far.