Bihar BJP legislator 'failed to return Rs 5 cr of Maoists'

A BJP legislator in Bihar allegedly having close links with outlawed Maoists is facing their wrath as he reportedly failed to return Rs 5 crore he was given by the Maoists to exchange banned currency notes after demonetisation in 2016, the police said on Monday.

A day after Maoists shot dead the uncle of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Rajan Singh, and set a house and 10 vehicles on fire in the state's Aurangabad district, some posters left behind by the ultra-left wing extremists were found.

The posters said that their attack was to teach Singh a "hard lesson" for betrayal with them for not exchanging the banned notes of Rs 5 crore that they gave him in good faith after demonetisation but he never returned.

Aurangabad Superintendent of Police Satya Prakash said BJP Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Rajan Singh was the main target of Maoist attack at his house in Sudi Bigaha village but he was not there at that time.

"Maoists in their posters claimed that they gave Rs 5 crore to the BJP legislator to exchange banned currency notes after demonetisation, but he has neither exchanged nor returned the money."

The police did not rule out the alleged link between the BJP legislator and Maoists.

However, the legislator refuted Maoists allegations and said he has no connection with the Maoists. It was all baseless allegations, he said, adding: "I have nothing to do with Maoists."

Hours after Maoists attacked his house to eliminate him, Rajan Singh said the police and the state government were responsible for the attack.

"The Maoist attack in the village is the result of mistakes of both the administration and the state government," he said.

"I had given an application to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the DGP for setting up a police station or at least a police outpost in the village, but no action has been taken. The administration and the state government are responsible for the incident," Singh said.

However, district police officials told IANS that contractor-turned-politician BJP legislator Rajan Singh is on the hit list of Maoists for huge levy that he did not pay. "The BJP legislator has been running contract works in the Maoist stronghold of Aurangabad. He can't work without his closeness with Maoists."

--IANS

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