Patna: Ritlal Yadav, a gangster-turned-politician will contest in Bihar Assembly election on a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ticket as he filed his nomination papers from Danapur assembly constituency on Tuesday.
Yadav would be locking horns with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Asha Devi Sinha from Danapur constituency.
He had also contested against the BJP MLA in 2010 as an independent candidate. But at that time he was lodged in jail for the murder.
Yadav had hit the headlines during the 2014 Lok Sabha election when RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav appointed him the party’s general secretary to dissuade him from contesting from Patliputra constituency against his daughter Misa Bharti.
Yadav, who was elected as a Member of Legislative Council from behind bars in 2016, was released from jail on August 18, 2020, after being granted bail by a bench of Patna high court comprising justices Shivaji Pandey and Partha Sarthy in a money laundering case.
The bench ruled that he could not be kept in jail anymore as the lawmaker had remained behind bars for more than seven years, which is the maximum sentence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
RULED THE ROOST IN DANAPUR RAIL DIVISION
Since the 90s Ritlal Yadav had been in the news for good or bad reasons. He also had his circle of friends and some of them were very close to him. He used to run his empire to grab most of the contracts of Danapur Rail Division. It was next to impossible for anyone to get a railway contract without Yadav’s approval.
The terror of Ritlal Yadav was so rampant in the Danapur Rail Division that the contract bidder had to take his prior approval first before submitting the papers. Some of the police officers, who were investigating officers (IO) in a few cases involving Ritlal Yadav, used to get 10 per cent as commission from every successful bidder.
It used to be a kind of security money for those getting any work from the Railways. Those who used to defy Yadav’s diktat didn’t get the work and if they got at all, they were not allowed to work. They were even killed. Once railway contractors were shot in Mokama.
ACCUSED OF MURDERING SITTING MLA’S HUSBAND
Ritlal Yadav is accused of killing the husband of Danapur MLA Asha Sinha. Satyanarayan Singh was also a muscleman in his own fashion and also a BJP leader. RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav had organised ‘Tel Piyavan Laathi Rally’ (Self-Assertion Rally) on April 30, 2003. Ritlal is accused of murdering Singh during the rally near Jamaluddin Chak in Khagaul. It is said that Yadav took the extreme criminal step following an altercation with Singh over some issues. The incident had created a political stir in the state. During a rally at the historic Gandhi Maidan, then Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee had handed over the BJP’s membership to Asha Sinha, the party’s sitting MLA from Danapur.
WHEN RITLAL’S FAMILY SAT ON DHARNA
During the 2015 assembly elections, Ritlal Yadav wanted the RJD ticket but Lalu Prasad Yadav did not agree. After which Ritlal Yadav’s father, wife and other family members sat on a dharna outside the house of Lalu Prasad Yadav, who finally persuaded them not to do so. Ritlal Yadav was in jail in 2015. He had said that he would not contest the election from another party as he considers Lalu Prasad Yadav as a father figure and will not ditch him under any circumstances
MANY CASES AGAINST YADAV
There are dozens of cases registered at several police stations of Patna against Ritlal Yadav. Only recently, a case of money-laundering was also registered against him in which the investigation is going on. It is said that Yadav invested his money in the land of which he did not have an account. Between 2017 and 2019, there were several revelations in the ED investigation, which has also confiscated several properties of Yadav in Danapur and Bihta. It is being claimed that Yadav has amassed huge money in black, which is obvious from the confiscation of his properties by the ED. Yadav’s family could not give details of these properties. It is worth mentioning that Ritlal Yadav contested the election of the Legislative Councilor from Danapur while in jail, which he won. He is currently a member of the Bihar Legislative Council.
Notably, The election for Danapur assembly constituency are scheduled for November 3.
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