Pappu Yadav arrested for violation of Covid-19 lockdown rules in Bihar

Bihar police has accused Pappu Yadav of violating Covid-19 lockdown norms, however, Yadav suggested his arrest was politically motivated.

Former parliamentarian from Bihar and Jan Adhikar Party chief Rajiv Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav was arrested on Tuesday morning from his Patna residence for alleged violation of Covid-19 lockdown norms. Bihar is under a 10-day lockdown till May 15.

Jan Adhikar Party president Pappu Yadav was arrested from his Patna resident on Tuesday morning for violation of Covid-19 containment rules.

Chief of Buddha colony police station in Patna, Kaisar Alam, said Yadav was arrested Tuesday morning and driven in his own SUV to the police station for further investigation. A case was lodged against him for alleged violation of Covid-19 guidelines and the disaster management act, he added.

Another police officer pointed out that Yadav has been travelling across Bihar during the lockdown apparently to assess the situation of Covid-19 treatment facilities without permission. “The police repeatedly asked him to follow the rules of the lockdown but he ignored it,” the officer added.

Yadav suggested his arrest was politically motivated. “They’ll tell you why I have been arrested. I have helped [needy] families for [the last] 1.5 months despite recently [undergoing] an operation. The government and Nitish babu (a reference to chief minister Nitish Kumar) will know what this is. Arrest doesn’t take place for violation of lockdown,” he said while on the way to the police station.

Yadav recently accused the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) MP from Saran, Rajiv Pratap Rudy of apathy, claiming the 24 ambulances funded by MPLAD (Members of Parliament Local Area Development) scheme lay abandoned in Saran instead of serving Covid-19 patients during the current crisis precipitated by the second wave of the disease. One Rudy supporter later filed a complaint against him for “trespassing” and “vandalizing” the ambulances.

Marhaura district superintendent of police (DSP) Indrajit Baitha said Yadav was booked under sections 147 (rioting), 448 (house tress pass), 379 (theft/snatching), 384 (extortion), 427 (mischief causing damage), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by a public servant). “Barring Section 378 and 384 (non-bailable sections) all other sections were bailable,” said the DSP.

Earlier on May 4, another case was lodged against Yadav in Gaya for violation of Covid-19 guidelines and the disaster management act after he barged into a district hospital with his supporters, demanding to inspect the facilities to treat Covid-19 patients there.

“This [Yadav’s arrest] should be condemned but at the same time one is not above [the] law. [The arrest is] condemnable because as a public representative you have the right to reach out to people, extend an helping hand but not at the cost of the provisions of law. He should have definitely taken prior permission to move around,” said Gyanandera Yadav, assistant professor of Sociology at College of Commerce in Patna.

Yadav’s activism had elicited praise from many belonging to poor families who credited him for intervening in time to get them admitted to hospitals during the present crisis.

In the meanwhile, the Covid crisis in the state has shown signs of easing a bit with the test positivity rate (TPR), which was at 16.1% on April 30, declining to 10.3% on May 9. The TPR measures the percentage of positive cases among all those tested for the disease on a given day.

Bihar reported 10,174 new Covid-19 infections on Monday, taking the total number of cases to 601,650. Patna topped with 1,745 new cases, followed by Katihar 706, Gopalganj 541, East Champaran 478, Samastipur 463, Begusarai 435 and Vaishali 417 among others.