Jharkhand court awards 18 months jail to BJP MLA

A court here on Wednesday sentenced BJP MLA Dhulu Mahto and four other persons to 18 months imprisonment for assaulting police personnel and forcibly taking away Rajesh Gupta from their custody six years ago.

Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate Shikha Agrawal found them guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 353 (assault to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty) and 325 (punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt).

They fled with Rajesh Gupta, who faced arrest warrants then.

Rajesh Gupta was also among the five convicted by the court, the other three being Chunchun Gupta, Rameswar Mahto and Ganga Gupta.

Another accused, Basant Sharma, was acquitted in the case.

The court granted bail to all the five convicts on the condition that each should furnish one surety bond (bail bond) of Rs 10,000.

According to the FIR, a team of the Barora police station in Baghmara block arrested Rajesh Gupta from his residence on May 12, 2013. He was facing a warrant in a case.

While the police vehicle was returning to the Barora police station with Rajesh Gupta, Dhulu Mahto and his supporters intercepted it, assaulted the police personnel and forcibly took away Rajesh Gupta from their custody.

Rajesh Gupta was again arrested a few days later and spent 11 months in jail.

Dhulu Mahto's advocate S N Mukherjee said that his client will challenge the order in the Jharkhand High Court.