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Journalism of Courage
PATNA, JAN 21: RJD chief Laloo Prasad has finally decided to disown his brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav, a perpetual source of embarrassment for Laloo, after the latter barged into the state Secretariat here and manhandled a senior Bihar cadre IAS officer N.K. Sinha.
Irked over Sadhu’s behaviour, Laloo spoke of his behaviour to his father-in-law about the behaviour of his son. In the past, Laloo would usually summon Sadhu and pull him up for his deeds but this time he took it up with Sadhu’s father.Sadhu known for his strong-arm tactics, barged into the room of Sinha, the transport secretary, and forced him to sign an order rescinding the transfer order of enforcement officer Sitaram Paswan working in the same Department.Paswan, a close Sadhu aide, had been transferred to the headquarters on Januaray 12. Sadhu lobbied with officials of the Department to rescind the order but to no avail. Officials pointed out that Paswan due to his proximity to Sadhu did not care for the officers.
On Thursday, Sadhu, accompanied by 14 armed men, barged into Sinha’s room when he was holding a meeting with some senior officials of the Department, abused him and threatened him with dire consequences if he did not rescind the transfer order.
A reluctant Sinha was then forced to sign an order cancelling Paswan’s tranfer. Before leaving Sadhu warned him not to create a fuss over the issue. But the news spread through out the Secretariat soon.
Laloo, who always came to his brother-in-law’s rescue in the past, refused to be drawn into the incident this time. On the contrary, he said: ‘‘It was a shameful incident. Such incidents should not take place. The Chief Minister will be approached to have the incident thoroughly inquired into and also to revoke the order forcibly procured by Sadhu.’’
In fact, Laloo was so cut up with Sadhu Yadav that he virtually disowned him. He said: ‘‘I am not responsible for his activities.’’ Apparently, the duo have not been on talking terms for the last six months.
Sadhu has even been denied entry into the outhouse of Laloo’s residence.Laloo narrated how the incident had come as an embarassment to him.
He said: ‘‘I have apprised my father-in-law about the incident. I also informed him about his deeds. Sadhu apne kaam se ham logon ke nam kitne oonche kar raha hai.’’
Laloo’s outburst came as a surprise for political circles here.
Sources in RJD confide that Laloo had stopped meeting him as most of his aides are hard-core criminals. Even when Laloo was fighting a series of court cases, they did not stop their illegal activities.
Moreover, they point out, some legislators have switched over their loyalty to Ranjan Yadav due to Sadhu’s high-handedness.’’
It is a known fact that Sadhu marshalled his army to keep the RJD legilators under tap, forcing them to maintain a safe distance from him.
Meanwhile, the IAS officers lobby here is completely divided over the issue of airing their concern over the incident. The lobby is yet to muster strength to confront Laloo and Rabri Devi on the issue.
Some senior officials nourish the notion that when Laloo has personally promised to take care and file a case against Sadhu there was no need to pursue the matter at his level.
But the younger lot is disgruntled. A young IAS officer sought to know whether Laloo would had acted in a similar way if Sinha had ‘‘belonged to the group of his confidant officers’’. They feel at least the Bihar IAS association should register a protest against the incident.
