RJD strongman booked in Patna extortion case: Who is Ritlal Yadav?

The police raided 11 premises in Danapur and other localities across Patna linked to Ritlal and his associates as part of its investigation into the case, claiming to recover more than Rs 10 lakh in cash, cheques of Rs 77 lakh, six blank cheques, 14 deeds related to sale and purchase of properties and 17 cheque books.

Ritlal, 53, currently faces 42 criminal cases. These include cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, rioting as well as those under the Arms Act in the Danapur, Bihta, Maner, Khagaul and Beur police station areas.

Local courts have taken cognisance in 10 of these cases so far, including two attempt-to-murder cases and four under the Arms Act. Ritlal has not been convicted in any of them.

In 2003, Ritlal was booked for the murder of BJP leader Satyanarayan Sinha.

He was however acquitted by the Patna MP and MLA court in 2024 in this case. Sinha’s widow Asha Sinha, who was also a former Danapur MLA, has challenged the lower court verdict in the Patna High Court, where the matter has been pending.

JD (U) chief spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar said, “While it has become fashionable for Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav to talk about crime, we wonder why RJD does not take any disciplinary action against Ritlal Yadav, who faces extortion allegations at regular intervals. Under the Nitish Kumar regime, police took action against several people including former RJD Siwan MP Mohammed Shahabuddin and even former Mokama MLA Anant Singh.”

RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari, however, said: “First, the court will decide if Ritlal Yadav is an accused in latest extortion and other pending cases or not. We also doubt that the state government has been trying to defame our party because our leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav has been trying to show mirror to the Nitish Kumar government on rising crime graph”.

Not RJD’s first choice

Ritlal, son of a small farmer Ramashish Rai, has allegedly extorted several builders and land developers, who bought land plots or started constructing buildings in Danapur and Khagaul areas. “While most builders would not lodge complaint against Ritlal Yadav, several builders dared to go to police against the muscleman, also known as Mukhiaji”, said a police officer.

Ritlal, who studied till Class 12, had been nursing his political ambition since 2010. Though he did not get a ticket from any political party in the 2010 Bihar Assembly polls, he won as an Independent in the state Legislative Council elections five years later.

Despite Tejashwi’s reported reservations over his candidature, the RJD fielded Ritlal in the 2020 polls from the Danapur constituency against four-time BJP MLA Asha Devi Sinha, whom he defeated by over 15,900 votes.

As per his 2020 election affidavit, Ritlal has assets worth Rs 1 crore from his farming and milk businesses.