The JD(U)’s Bihar unit Saturday suspended the party MLA from Jokihat, Sarfaraz Alam, for allegedly misbehaving with a couple during a train journey from Katihar to Patna on January 17-18. The couple had lodged a complaint against Alam with Patna railway police on January 18, but the MLA denied taking the train and said he had travelled by road. He threatened legal action against the couple and produced toll tax receipts to prove his “innocence”. But the JD(U) took action after Patna railway police presented CCTV footage showing Alam coming out of Patna station after alighting from the Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express. “The party cannot tolerate indiscipline. We suspended Sarfaraz Alam,” JD(U) state president Bashistha Narayan Singh said. Alam, son of RJD MP Mohammed Taslimuddin, would now be an unattached member of Assembly. On sidelines of a function, CM Nitish Kumar said, “Alam had called me soon after the alleged case. I told him to meet me on January 19. When he did not turn up, I could guess there was something fishy. There is a fixed code of conduct for MLAs and MPs.” Sources said Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary has been intimated about the matter. Alam had reportedly boarded the train without ticket and was given a berth by the train attendant. During the journey, the MLA allegedly misbehaved with the couple, who are originally from Punjab but live in Delhi. Their berth was near Alam’s.
