By IANS,
Patna : A Bihar court Friday sent Navlesh Pathak, editor of Purnia-based English weekly Quisling, to judicial custody for 14 days in connection with the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Raj Kishore Kesri by a woman teacher who alleged he had raped her for three years.
Pathak, one of the other two accused in the case, was brought to the chief judicial magistrate’s court in Purnia Friday afternoon amid tight security, said police officials.
“His statement was also recorded,” a court official said.
According to police sources, Pathak, who had first reported about the teacher Rupam Pathak’s sexual harassment complaint, was interrogated for over three hours by Purnia Deputy Inspector General Amit Kumar, Superintendent of Police N.H. Khan and other police officials in Purnia before being brought before the court.
Police arrested Navlesh Pathak Thursday after an FIR was registered in the case against three accused, including Rupam Pathak, by Kesri’s nephew.
The court Thursday sent the main accused Rupam Pathak, 40, to judicial custody for 14 days, officials said.
Rupam Pathak went to Kesri’s home in Purnia Tuesday and stabbed him to death in the presence of a number of people.
“He died soon after being stabbed because his vital organs were badly damaged,” an employee at Kesri’s house said.
Rupam was badly beaten up by Kesri’s security guards and supporters following the murder. She alleged Kesri, 51, had raped her for over three years, a charge refuted by the party.
However, opposition parties, including the Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), have demanded a judicial inquiry into the case.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.
But Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi has ruled out both the options, though some BJP leaders and legislators are also in favour of a CBI probe.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has meanwhile asked the state’s police chief to thoroughly review the security of all legislators.