Bihar Police on Tuesday arrested a “former associate” of Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, and claimed that it was this man who threatened the Lok Sabha MP posing as a henchman of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi as part of a plan to demand heightened security for the parliamentarian.
The accused, Ram Babu Yadav, allegedly made a video call to Pappu Yadav, demanding an apology to Lawrence Bishnoi for a post threatening to “finish off” the jailed gangster’s network.
Ram Babu Yadav was arrested from his native place in Bhojpur district.
Purnea SP Kartikeya K Sharma told that the accused was formerly associated with Jan Adhikar Party (JAP), which Pappu Yadav had merged with the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Pappu Yadav contested and won from the Purnea Lok Sabha seat as an Independent candidate.
“Purnea Police tracked Ram Babu Yadav’s location and arrested him. Preliminary investigations revealed that he has no connections with any gang. He was formerly associated with JAP. He has confessed that he sent threatening messages to the Lok Sabha MP on the instruction of some people associated with the MP himself,” Sharma said.
The arrested man claimed that he was paid Rs 2000 for making and sending the video on the WhatsApp number of the MP. He also told the interrogators that he was supposed to get Rs. 2 lakh more and some political post from the people associated with the MP after sending another threatening video which was already made, the SP said.
Police questioned Ram Babu Yadav to understand the motive, said the SP.
“Police have so far found no evidence to corroborate the claims made by the accused during questioning. The matter is being further investigated,” Sharma said.
Pappu Yadav has been allegedly receiving death threats since he announced his intention to eliminate the Bishnoi gang in the aftermath of the killing of former lawmaker Baba Siddique in Mumbai.
Shortly after Siddique’s murder, Yadav uploaded a post on his official X handle, declaring to “finish off the gang within 24 hours” the network of Bishnoi, who was suspected to be behind the assassination of Baba Siddique.
