Patna, May 12 (IANS): A day after Jan Adhikar Party chief Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav was put behind bars, allegedly in a three-decade-old case, the Rastriya Janata Dal (RJD) claimed that the BJP-JDU combined government had arrested him to divert attention from its failure in handling the Coronavirus pandemic.

"The warrant of Pappu Yadav was issued one and half years ago. As per the RTI filed by a RJD leader, the Bihar government mentioned that he is a fugitive. RJD submitted the details before the Madhepura administration. Now, we want to know why the Nitish Kumar government allowed him to travel in helicopters during the Bihar assembly election 2020. The BJP-JDU allowed him to roam freely so that he would cut the votes of Mahagathbandhan," Chandrashekher, the RJD MLA of Madhepura, alleged on Wednesday.

"Pappu Yadav campaigned for his party across the state and the Nitish Kumar government did not arrest him. Now, dead bodies are flowing in the rivers, people are dying due to Corona and the health infrastructure has completely collapsed. Therefore, the state government is trying to divert attention from its failure in the corona period," Chandrashekher further alleged.