A day after being sworn in as the law minister in the new Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government, Kartikeya Singh alias Kartik Master faced an arrest warrant in alleged connection with a 2014 kidnapping case. An official said on Wednesday that the RJD leader avoided surrendering to a court or police in the case on August 16, the day he took the oath as a state cabinet minister.
On being asked by reporters about the warrant against Kartikeya, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that he has no information about any such case. “I do not know. I am not aware of it,” Kumar said.
Kartikeya, who is close to RJD’s Bahubali leader Anant Singh, is facing the charge of kidnapping in Patna district and a case was registered at the Bihta police station in 2014. The warrant was issued in the first week of August and he had to surrender before the court or police till August 16.
As per the allegations against him, he was involved in the kidnapping of a person named Rajiv Ranjan in 2014 and an FIR was lodged at the Bihta police station. The victim had given a statement under CrPC of 164 in the court where he had mentioned the name of the RJD leader.
Moreover, he is also facing other criminal charges in Mokama railway police station and other police stations of Patna and adjoining districts.
On case against him, Kartikeya said, “The allegations levelled against me are politically influenced and not proved yet. We will take action as per the law.”
Addressing a presser, his lawyers said, “‘Karthik is not the primary accused in the case that has been registered. The allegation is baseless. It is said by the accused on record that Karthik was seen on the way. Police have acquitted Karthik in its last circular, acquitting him of the charge. Now it is the job of the police to inform the court about it. We will just say that we had gone to the court under the legal process of law and we had applied for anticipatory bail immediately. The court had given stay till September 1.”
Kartikeya is a political strategist of Rashtriya Janata Dal Bahubali leader Anant Singh. He has been associated with Anant Singh since early 2000 and played a crucial role in the 2005 assembly election for him. He is a teacher by profession and recently was elected as MLC on the ticket of RJD.
Reacting to this, BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi said that Kartikey should be immediately dismissed from the new Bihar cabinet. “If Kartikeya Singh had a warrant against him, he should have surrendered. But he has taken oath as Law minister. I ask Nitish, is he trying to take Bihar back to Lalu’s times? Kartikey Singh should be immediately dismissed,” he told news agency ANI.
Echoing similar sentiments, national general secretary of the BJP’s OBC wing, Nikhil Anand, said, “The council of ministers of Nitish Kumar government is presenting a very horrible picture. These people cannot ensure the safety and security of the people of Bihar. How come a person hides the fact that he is wanted in a kidnapping case and takes oath as a law minister of Bihar. It is very shameful for Nitish Kumar to have succumbed to the pressure of RJD.”
Meanwhile, the poll rights body ADR said that more than 70 per cent of the newly sworn-in ministers in Bihar have declared criminal cases against themselves. Kumar and his Deputy Tejashwi Yadav also have cases registered against them.
Kumar, who recently severed ties with the BJP and joined hands with the RJD to form the government in Bihar, expanded his new cabinet on Tuesday by inducting 31 new ministers. Kumar and Deputy CM Yadav had been sworn in earlier on August 10.
Consequent to the reconstitution of the Bihar Council of Ministers, the Association for Democratic Reforms and the Bihar Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 32 out of 33 ministers, including the chief minister, submitted during the 2020 assembly polls.
(with inputs from agencies)
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