Jharkhand Court upholds BJP MLA Dhulu Mahto punishment

A special MP/MLA court in Dhanbad upheld a lower court's order of 18 months jail sentence for BJP legislator Dhulu Mahto and four others in 9 years old case on wednesday.

Dhanbad (Jharkhand) : A special MP/MLA court in Dhanbad on Wednesday upheld a lower court's order of 18 months jail sentence for BJP legislator Dhulu Mahto and four others in a nine-year-old case of forcibly freeing a person from police custody. The special court judge Akhilesh Kumar completed hearing the appeal of the Baghmara MLA and others on August 10 and pronounced the order on Wednesday.

Earlier, a lower court on October 9, 2019, held Mahto and his four associates guilty of obstructing government servants and freeing a person, arrested on extortion charges, forcibly from police custody. The court had sentenced them to 18 months of imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 9,000 on Dhulu Mahto, Rajesh Gupta, Chunchun Gupta, Ganga Prasad Gupta and Rameshwar Mahto.

The court acquitted another accused. Dhulu Mahto and his aides on May 12, 2013, had prevented the personnel of Barora police station from discharging their duties and took Rajesh Gupta, the accused, away from a police van. The MLA's lawyers said they will challenge the order in the high court. PTI