Six-time MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who won the last Lok Sabha poll in 2024 as an Independent candidate from Purnea constituency, was arrested late on Friday (February 6, 2026) night in a 31-year old case of his repeated absence from hearings in the court.
Mr. Yadav, of late, has been protesting in favour of the alleged rape and death case of a girl medical aspirant residing in a hostel in Patna. The girl was from the adjoining Jehanabad district. The incident has triggered widespread protests across the State. The state government recently handed over the case to the investigating agency CBI.
The Patna police reached Mr. Yadav’s residence in Patna after midnight and arrested him in the old case related to a dispute registered at Gardanibagh police station in 1995.
Mr. Yadav had arrived in Patna on Friday (February 6, 2026) late evening after attending Parliament. It was due to the regular non-appearance of the accused in the case that the MP/MLA court had issued an arrest warrant against Pappu Yadav under Section 467 (forgery of documents) of the Indian Penal Code.
“A warrant of arrest has been issued against the MP by the MP/ MLA court in connection with a 1995 case lodged under section 467 of the IPC. The police team had gone to his house to produce him before the court on Saturday”, senior superintendent of Patna police, Karrtikeya Sharma told media persons.
A large number of supporters of Pappu Yadav had reached his residence after the police reached his residence to arrest him, where Mr. Yadav had initially refused to be arrested, and a drama unfolded claiming that the police was carrying a warrant for the attachment of property but not for his arrest.
He, however, was later taken into custody and would be produced before a competent court on February 7.
At the time of his arrest, Mr. Yadav posted on social media mocking the Bihar police. “Well done, Bihar police. I was fighting for justice to the NEET student, and the Bihar police had an ache in stomach which had come to arrest me at my residence in Patna, but Pappu Yadav would neither bow down nor keep mum and keep exposing the misdeeds of wrongdoers. Sent me to jail or hang me, Pappu will not stop”. Said Mr. Yadav in his post on X.
In the last parliamentary elections in 2024, Pappu Yadav won elections from the Purnea constituency of northeast Bihar for the sixth time as an Independent candidate. Earlier, he had won Lok Sabha polls in 1991, 1996, 1999, 2004 and 2014, representing different constituencies, sometimes on tickets of political parties like Samajwadi Party, Lok Janshakti Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and sometime as an Independent candidate.
Later, Mr. Yadav, while speaking to a media person, said that he had already planned to appear before the court on Saturday (February 7, 2026), “in fact, this was the reason, I came to Patna on Friday (February 6, 2026) late evening”.
“This has always been happening with me, as whenever I expose the misdeeds of government in the state, the police tried to hound me out. It happened to me during covid pandemic, too. Of late, I have been highlighting the ineptitude of the government in handling incidents like the recent death of a NEET (medical) aspirant, which had brought to light the insecurity faced by girl students living in hostels in Patna”, charged Mr. Yadav.
Earlier, he even released videos on social media claiming that he had been receiving phone calls from girl students alleging that their hostel inmates were being pushed into flesh trade.
Senior BJP leader Samrat Choudhary is the State’s deputy Chief Minister who also holds the Home portfolio. Mr Yadav had challenged him to act against the alleged racket going against the girl hostel inmates in Patna.
Leader of Opposition in the State legislative council, Rabri Devi of RJD, too had, earlier, alleged that a Minister or his son might be involved in the rape and death of a NEET aspirant in Patna. Mr. Choudhary had challenged Ms. Devi to name the Minister or his son, and being the Home Minister of the State, he would ensure to send them to jail “within 24-hours”.
Published – February 07, 2026 02:15 am IST
