Sushil Kumar Modi apprehends rigging in bypolls

PATNA: Former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday apprehended that the byelection in ten assembly constituencies on August 21 might not be free and fair as the government was releasing criminals and asking police not to execute non-bailable warrants.
At a press conference here, Modi said senior officers of Bihar police, including the DGP, are under pressure from former chief minister Nitish Kumar not to take action against criminals.The BJP leader advised the police officers not to succumb to the pressure of leaders, otherwise they would face the consequences.
Modi said the members of the Indian Chamber of Commerce told him in Kolkata last week, 'no businessman was willing to come to Bihar after the RJD entered into an alliance with the JD (U) and they feared return of Jungle Raj in the state'.
The senior BJP leader said criminals are taking advantage of the alliance between RJD and JD (U). "Despite orders of Patna high court, two close relatives of former Maharajganj MP of RJD Prabhunath Singh have not been arrested. The RJD may take help of Mohammad Shahabuddin and Ritlal Yadav, both in jail, also to terrorize voters during the byelection," he said.
The then IG of Muzaffarpur, Gupteshwar Pandey, had issued non-bailable warrants against Deenanath Singh and Sudhir Kumar Singh, the two close relatives of Prabhunath Singh, on June 22, 2012 after investigation. The Patna high court had rejected the anticipatory bail petitions of the two on February 2, 2014. Now, the government on July 17 handed over the investigation to CID and asked police not to arrest the two, he alleged.
Prabhunath Singh could not be contacted despite several attempts.