Left urges CBI to appeal against Pappu Yadav's acquittal

Left parties in Bihar Saturday urged the CBI to appeal in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav in the murder of a CPI-M leader.

Citing lack of evidence, the Patna High Court Friday acquitted Pappu Yadav in the Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Ajit Sarkar murder case.

"The acquittal of Pappu Yadav has come as a rude shock to law abiding citizens," CPI-M state secretary Vijay Kant Thakur said while urging the Central Bureau of Investigation, which had filed the chargesheet in the case, to appeal against the verdict in the apex court.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML) state secretary Kunal said the Supreme Court should order a fresh inquiry in the case on the lines of one ordered after the Gujarat riots in 2002.

"The verdict favouring Pappu Yadav would discourage people fighting against criminal-turned-politicians," he said.

The CPI-ML has decided to observe a day-long protest in Patna and Purnea districts against the high court verdict.

Sarkar was killed May 14, 1998 while returning from a meeting of party workers in Purnea.

Setting aside the February 2008 conviction by a lower court of Pappu Yadav and two other accused - Rajan Tiwari and Anil Kumar Yadav - a division bench of Patna High Court justices V.N. Singh and K.K. Lal acquitted them of all charges in connection with Sarkar's killing.