‘Dog Babu’ case: Political conspiracy suspected ahead of Bihar assembly elections

PATNA: An investigation into the issuance of a residence certificate to "Dog Babu" in Patna district has suggested a political conspiracy, with the employee, who issued the document, suspected to be close to a local RJD legislator, an official said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, after "Dog Babu" and "Sonalika Tractor", it has been found that "Samsung" and one "Dogesh Babu" have also applied for residential certificates in Jehanabad and Nawada districts respectively, prompting the authorities to order an investigation.

In the "Dog Babu" case, Mintu Kumar Nirala, the executive assistant at Masaurhi circle office in Patna, was arrested and jailed on Tuesday for his role as the alleged mastermind and key conspirator. "The arrested person is known to be a close relative of an RJD leader in Masaurhi," a source said.

A source from the Masaurhi police station said that Nirala admitted to uploading documents and falsely using another person's Aadhar card to apply for the residence certificate.

The source added he fraudulently obtained approval of the certificate, and then circulated the fake document on social media to garner the spotlight. Nirala deleted all data from his computer following public attention, he said.

The source further said, "Nirala accepted that despite being deputed to the subdivisional office for voter list revision work, he would arrive at the circle office an hour early to create unauthorised residence and caste certificates, with an intent of defaming the govt ahead of the upcoming 2025 Bihar assembly elections."

Masaurhi subdivisional magistrate Abhishek Kumar said an investigation is being carried out to find out the possible involvement of others behind this act.

Denying the charges, however, RJD legislator Bhai Birendra said this is a part of conspiracy to defame the main opposition party. "This charge is baseless. Now that the administration has been caught on the wrong foot, it is blaming the RJD," Birendra said.

In Jehanabad, officials said they were scrutinising the applications received by the Modanganj circle office on Tuesday when they came across one "Samsung" applying for a residence certificate. Samsung is a South Korean manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Seoul.

Sources said they became suspicious when they found "Samsung" mentioning "Iphoan" as father and "Smartphoan" as mother, while describing "Battery" as its village. Further, the applicant described "govt service" as occupation. "We have taken the matter seriously and written to the cyber police station to conduct a thorough investigation into the case. Action will be taken against the accused once we get their report," local circle officer Mohd Asif Hussain told the TOI over the phone on Wednesday, describing the application as an attempt to tarnish the image of the local administration.

Close on the heels of the case of "Dog Babu", one "Dogesh Babu" also applied for a residential certificate at the Sirdala circle office in Nawada district, and "Sonalika Tractor" applied for the same in East Champaran district.

In both the cases, certificates were not issued, but the district magistrates (DMs) concerned ordered lodging of FIRs against the people who submitted the applications. "Copy cats, or rather I should say, copy dogs, tried applying for a residence certificate from Sirdala, Rajauli ... were caught in the act. FIR being registered for lame and stale attempt at humour (sic)," Nawada DM Ravi Prakash wrote on his social media handle.