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Election heat: Babulal Marandi booked after late night hotel raid
An FIR was filed against Babulal Marandi and 100 BJP supporters for violating election conduct rules during a late-night gathering post-campaign deadline.
In a significant legal development ahead of the civic body polls, an FIR was registered against Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Babulal Marandi, and approximately 100 BJP supporters for an alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
The case, filed at Giridih Town Police Station, stems from a late-night raid conducted by the Flying Surveillance Team (FST) on Saturday. The FIR was filed under Section 174 (non-attendance in obedience to an order from a public servant), Section 223 (a) (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant) and Section 3(5) (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of BNS.
According to the official complaint lodged by Mohd Mansoor, FST in-charge and panchayat secretary of Mangrodih, the team received a tipoff via telephone and a written complaint from election agent Praveen Mehra.
According to FIR approximately 7PM on Saturday, two hours after the official campaign deadline had passed—the FST conducted a raid at Maa Kali Hotel, located near the HP Petrol Pump by the Giridih Bus Stand. The team reportedly found Marandi along with 80 to 100 supporters gathered on the premises. Additionally, 15 to 20 vehicles were found parked at the site.
The FST, the FIR reads, confirmed that video recordings and photographs were taken as evidence of the unauthorised assembly. As campaigning had officially concluded at 5 PM that day, the gathering was deemed a direct violation of election protocols.
The BJP has reacted sharply to the FIR, with state president Aditya Sahu labelling the move as a “blatant abuse of power” by the Hemant Soren government. The party maintained that the LoP was merely having dinner and that the police administration was being used as a “toolkit” to intimidate the Opposition.
“Filing a case in Giridih against Babulal Marandi, state’s first CM and current Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, is a manifestation of the ruling party’s frustration. Babulal Marandi is not a foolish leader who would violate the code of conduct. However, the Hemant government is so dominated by the arrogance of power that even a meal where the LoP is eating has been linked to the code of conduct and a case has been filed. This is a blatant abuse of power. The police administration has completely become the state government’s toolkit,” Sahu said issuing a press statement.
JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said, “No hotel in Jharkhand can prepare food for a such a big number of people without prior information at 8pm and thus it was a pre-planned meeting in violation of the model code of conduct with an intention to influence election.”
