Patna, Aug 03: Senior Samata Party leader and railway minister Nitish Kumar said today that the arrest of controversial RJD MP Shahabuddin is not a big issue, but it has been blown up into "a high voltage drama" to divert people's mind from the spate of kidnappings in the state. Kumar told reporters here before leaving for his parliamentary constituency "the arrest of Shahbuddin is not a big issue as is being projected by the media. What is needed is a strong will to implement the orders of the Director General of Police (DGP) D P Ojha for his arrest."

Ojha has issued an arrest warrant against the controversial RJD MP for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of one Munna Choudhry, a CPI-ML activist on January 13, 2001. The DGP has also requested the state government to order a CBI probe into a bank robbery, allegedly by criminals patronised by Shahabuddin.
Kumar said that instead of requesting the government to order a CBI probe for the alleged complicity of Shahabuddin in the looting of Rs 20 lakh from a rural bank in Gopalganj district this year, the state police could make an inquiry into the case on its own.


Bureau Report