PATNA: Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor on Monday demanded from the state govt that deputy CM Samrat Choudhary be immediately removed from his post and arrested on murder charges.Addressing a press conference here, Kishor said, “In 1995, six people were murdered in Tarapur (Munger), all of whom belonged to Samrat’s Kushwaha caste. In the case number 44/1995, documents were submitted to the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) stating that Rakesh Kumar alias Samrat Chandra Maurya alias Samrat Chaudhary, son of Shakuni Chaudhary, has a date of birth of May 1, 1981. Due to this, Samrat was released from jail as he claimed himself a minor. But in 2020, Samrat stated his age as 51 years in the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission. This means that in 1995 his age was 26 years and he was not a minor. Then the court mistakenly released him despite being an accused. Until he is cleared by the court, he should be in jail.”Kishor also alleged that Samrat escaped trial in a over two-decade-old murder case by falsely claiming to be a minor before the court.Samrat, who holds crucial portfolios like finance in the Nitish Kumar govt, dismissed the allegations and taunted the political strategist-turned-politician for behaving like an “investigative journalist”. “Left with nothing new to say, the poor man seems to have become an investigative journalist. There is a proper forum to raise an issue. He himself is involved in corruption and is trying to divert attention by pointing fingers at others,” Samrat claimed.Kishor said his party would seek an appointment with the governor in the next two/three days to “press for dismissal” of Samrat from the cabinet.“We also urge CM Nitish Kumar and his ally BJP to act now, else they shall stand exposed before the people,” the Jan Suraaj founder said.Kishor also said until Samrat is cleared by the judiciary, he should be lodged in jail. “My request to the CM and governor is that this person, sitting in a constitutional position, is insulting the country’s laws and regulations. If the CM does not take action against him, we will go to the governor with a delegation in the next two-three days,” he said.Kishor also said the state govt should either dismiss and arrest him (Samrat) or release all the murder accused from the jails.Kishor further disclosed that Samrat is not just an accused in the Tarapur murder case, but was also named as a suspect in the highly publicised Shilpi-Gautam rape and murder case that rocked Patna in 1999. The CBI had investigated the case.“Samrat should clarify whether these allegations are true or not. He should come clean on his role in the Shilpi-Gautam murder case. If he denies the allegations, then we will reveal this with more supporting documents,” Kishor said.Shilpi Jain and Gautam Singh were found dead in 1999, inside a car in a semi-nude state, triggering shock waves across Patna.The vehicle was parked close to the house of former MP Sadhu Yadav, brother of Rabri Devi, the then CM of the state. Following an outcry, the case was handed over to the CBI, which filed a closure report a few years later, declaring that the two died by suicide.Kishor once again cornered the state’s rural works minister Ashok Choudhary, asking him to “publicly withdraw” the legal notice of Rs 100 crore defamation against him. “If the legal notice is not withdrawn with an apology within seven days, we will expose Choudhary’s alleged illegal properties worth Rs 500 crore,” Kishor said.“In the last press conference, we released documents of land and property worth Rs 200 crore acquired by Ashok Choudhary and his family members. We have replied to his notice. Now he is saying that he will fight a political battle with us leaving the legal route. But this won’t work. We are giving him a direct challenge that if he doesn’t withdraw the legal notice and apologise within seven days, we will go to the governor and move the court against him. Further, we will expose his property worth Rs 500 crore along with documents,” Kishor claimed. Go to Source
