CBI 'seeks army help to arrest Laloo'; Rajya Sabha shocked
''The CBI had directly approached the army in Patna seeking help to arrest former Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav.''
The reported move by the CBI after the Supreme Court rejected the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief's anticipatory bail plea has kicked up a row in the Rajya Sabha. The House witnessed heated exchanges between the BJP and a Janata Dal faction which is loyal to the RJD chief.
With some Congressmen jumping on the Laloo Yadav bandwagon, the members went hammer and tongs at the CBI, questioning the constitutional validity of the agency's decision to approach the army without the defence ministry's approval.
Raising the issue, JD member Som Pal said, ''Where is the need for such a move when Laloo Yadav had announced that he would surrender?''
He said the CBI sought the help of the area commander of the
Danapur army cantonment near Patna for arresting Laloo Yadav.
There were sharp exchanges as the BJP members said the CBI had no other alternative as the state police was unwilling to co-operate.
Amid the din, BJP member V K Malhotra drew the chair's attention to certain comments made by S S Ahluwalia which ''cast aspersions on the judiciary and the investigating agency''. Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Najma Heptulla said she would look into the record and expunge anything that was unparliamentary.
Intervening, Prime Minister I K Gujral said, ''I have taken note of the reports and I am looking into them.''
In another development, the BJP on Thursday filed a contempt petition in the Patna high court against state Chief Secretary B P Verma, Director General of Police P S K Saxena and Patna district magistrate Bala Verma.
The petition, filed by leader of the Opposition in the state assembly,
Sushil Kumar Modi and others, said the officials deliberately and wilfully violated an undertaking to the court regarding Laloo Yadav's arrest.
The CBI approached the chief secretary and the DGP on July 29-30 for necessary help to arrest Laloo Yadav, the petition said. However, no help was provided.
The petition said it was quite disgusting the district magistrate ensured that the Rapid Action Force was removed from outside Laloo Yadav's home. This, the BJP alleged, enabled some of the RJD chief's supporters to threaten and intimidate CBI officers.
The petitioners alleged that the officials were taking instructions
from Laloo Yadav and were closeted with him at his residence.
Earlier in the day, even the CBI said it would file a contempt petition against the officials.
Laloo Yadav is currently lodged in the Bihar Military Police guest house at Phulwarisharif. Officials of the Beur central jail refused to accommodate him there for security reasons.
Yadav was driven straight to the Beur jail from the designated CBI
court after he was remanded to judicial custody.
The drive was far from smooth with the RJD chief's supporters squatting on the road and creating several obstacles. The Rapid Action Force and the state police had to resort to mild caning to disperse the crowd at several points in the route.
Now that the RJD chief is in judicial custody, he would be intensively interrogated, a CBI source said. Hectic consultations were on in the CBI headquarters at Patna with the arrival of the fodder scam probe team led by CBI Joint Director (East) U N Biswas from Calcutta. The agency is chalking out its future course of action in the wake of Laloo Yadav's 15-day judicial remand.
Protesting against Laloo Yadav's arrest, the RJD's Bihar unit has called a statewide strike on August 1. A phase-wise agitation including a ''Jai
Bharo'' campaign from August 2 to 7 will be launched, said state RJD president Udit Narayan Choudhary.
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