PATNA: Bihar govt Saturday asked the Economic Offences Unit (
EOU
) to
probe
the alleged offer of Rs 10 crore or a cabinet berth to a JD(U) MLA for switching sides, two days before chief minister Nitish Kumar moved a trust motion in the assembly. On Feb 12, JD(U)'s Harlakhi MLA Sudhanshu Shekhar had lodged an FIR at Patna's Kotwali police station regarding the offer in exchange for voting against Nitish-led NDA govt.
In the two-page FIR, Shekhar further alleged that other party MLAs, Krishna Murari Sharan and Niranjan Kumar Mehta, were also offered a cabinet berth and money, respectively, for voting against govt.
"Since all the conversations related to the offers happened through WhatsApp calls and cell phones, EOU is well-equipped to handle cases of this nature. Hence, govt decided to transfer the case to EOU from Patna police," a senior police officer said.
"As the case involves many legislators, a deputy SP-rank officer (in EOU) has been asked to investigate the matter," another senior officer told TOI.
Shekhar alleged that the offer was made by one "Engineer Sunil", who contacted him via a WhatsApp call on Feb 10. "He said Rs 5 crore will be paid before the trust vote and the remaining amount after completion of the task. Engineer Sunil also told me he will come to my residence to deliver the money if I agree to his offer," Shekhar mentioned in the FIR.
The Harlakhi MLA also claimed that he had information that JD(U) MLAs Bima Bharti (Rupauli) and Dilip Rai (Sursand) had been abducted so that they could not participate in the trust vote.
Shekhar suspected the role of JD(U)'s Parbatta MLA Dr Sanjeev Kumar in the entire episode, including the abduction of Bharti and Rai. Days after Nitish won the trust vote, Sanjeev Kumar had called on him and explained his conduct.
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