Dalit case: Bihar Minister gets the sack

By K. Balchand

PATNA, JULY 10. The Bihar Minister of State for Cooperation, Mr. Lalit Kumar Yadav, has been dismissed from the Council of Ministers and expelled from the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal as well, for his alleged complicity in the wrongful confinement and torture of two Dalits.

The Chief Minister, Ms. Rabri Devi, recommended the dismissal of Mr. Yadav to the Governor, Mr. V. C. Pandey, late on Sunday night. This morning, the RJD president, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav, expelled Mr. Lalit Yadav from the primary membership of the party for six months.

The Government, by acting swiftly on the issue, has not only silenced its detractors who sought to accuse it of being anti- Dalit, but also denied the Opposition a chance of making an issue of it.

As demanded by the Opposition, the Government issued a statement later in the day and admitted that there was a prima facie case against the dismissed Minister for illegally detaining Mr. Deenanath Baitha, a truck driver and Mr. Karu Ram, cleaner, and subjecting them to third-degree torture at his official residence for about one month.

Making the statement, the Water Resources Minister, Mr. Jagdanand Singh, said cases had been filed under the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe Atrocities (Prevention) Act, against Mr. Yadav, his cousin, Mr. Surendra Yadav, and four others on the basis of the inquiry report, which the Chief Minister had called for, and the statement of Mr. Deenanath Baitha.

Acknowledging that the Government had come to know of the case through a TV channel report, Mr. Jagdanand Singh said it was on June 6 that Mr. Baitha, driving a truck loaded with stone chips from Sasaram to Dhori in Muzaffarpur district, stopped at Hajipur for the night.

Accompanied by his helper, Mr. Karu Ram, Mr. Baitha had on his way picked up one Deenanath Paswan, another truck driver and his driving teacher. All the three consumed liquor and Mr. Baitha and Mr. Ram woke up to find the truck missing. The driver informed the truck owner, Mr. Surendra Yadav, about the incident on June 9. Mr. Surendra Yadav brought them to the official residence of Mr. Lalit Yadav and employed his ``own methods'' to elicit the ``truth'', disbelieving the statement of the driver.

The Minister said Mr. Lalit Yadav was present when Mr. Surendra Yadav and his accomplices, including Pappu and Vijay, tied Mr. Baitha up and thrashed him mercilessly the first time. Mr. Surendra Yadav and his men then urinated in the driver's mouth, ripped off his toenails, starved him for days and threatened him and his family members with dire consequences.

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