Bomb threat paralyses Patna court, Pappu Yadav's bail plea remains unheard

Patna: An email threatening to blow up the Patna Civil court premises was received on Monday, sending the administration into a tizzy, in the second such instance of its kind in a month.

Police personnel, who rushed to the spot to carry out searches, were so far tight-lipped, even as judicial work was suspended for the day, putting on hold, among other things, the bail plea of Independent MP Pappu Yadav.

Yadav's lawyer Shivnandan Bharti told reporters, "We have been told that a bomb threat has been received on the email address of the District Judge. As a result, the bail application of the MP can now be taken up not before tomorrow. My client shall have to spend another day in jail."

Yadav, who represents Purnea Lok Sabha seat, was arrested on Friday night in connection with a three-decade-old forgery case lodged at the MP/MLA court.

The Congress has come out in his support, with leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleging that the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar was targeting Yadav because he had been criticising the investigation into the death of a NEET aspirant.

Notably, similar bomb threats were received by several courts in Bihar, including the one here, on January 8. The emails had turned out to be a hoax.