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‘Apologise or defamation suit will follow’: Tejashwi Yadav on murder case
Tejashwi and his brother Tej Pratap, along with few others, have been named in connection with the murder of RJD leader Shakti Malik.
A day after seven persons were arrested in the murder of former RJD leader Shakti Malik in Purnea, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who is also the face of the grand alliance in this month’s assembly polls, on Thursday upped the ante against chief minister Nitish Kumar and senior BJP leaders.
Tejashwi and his brother Tej Pratap, along with few others, have been named in connection with the murder of Malik.
The RJD leader accused the BJP of making “baseless allegations” and trying to implicate him falsely in a case. He demanded a public apology from Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi as well as other senior BJP leaders and threatened them with a defamation suit.
All the seven arrested in the murder case have confessed before the SP Purnea, said Tejashwi, alleging that his name was dragged in the FIR as part of political conspiracy.
The SP Purnea Vishal Sharma had said on Wednesday that no political conspiracy has been found in the murder of Malik in the investigation so far.
“We want to know on whose directions my and my brother’s name was put in the FIR. I also want to know who had asked deceased Malik to make a video where a demand of Rs 50 lakh was purportedly made by me for a ticket,” Tejashwi asked at a press conference in Patna.
Accusing the JD(U) of trying to play the Dalit card and rousing caste sentiments ahead of the polls by making false allegations against him, the 30-year-old Yadav scion said the charge of murder against him was no frivolous accusation. “I have also sought a CBI probe into the murder,” he said.
“The JD(U) and BJP leaders held press conferences and made allegations against me. I want a public apology from the chief minister, deputy CM and senior BJP leaders, including Sambit Patra, for maligning my image, falsely framing me in a case by hatching a conspiracy just for the sake of political interests,” he said.
A defamation case would follow in case a public apology does not come, he said.
“This has happened in the past when I was framed in corruption cases just before the chief minister re-aligned with the BJP in 2017 by leaving the grand alliance(GA),” said the leader.
The young leader also questioned how calls were made from a telephone number registered in the state forest department guest house in the zoo allegedly to demand money from RJD ticket seekers.
“We have complained about it. The forest department is under deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi. This is all being done by those who are frustrated and scared of losing power on November 10 ( day of counting for assembly polls,” Tehashwi said.
Meanwhile, JD(U) state spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan said the JD(U) had made allegations against the RJD in context of Malik’s death regarding the alleged selling of tickets in the RJD.
“We had never made any allegations about who is behind the murder as it is a matter of police investigation,” Ranjan said.
“The tickets allotted to wives of criminal-turned-politicians is another reflection of how the RJD continues to promote heavyweights with muscle power in politics,” he said.
