In Bihar, judge asked to pay Rs 10 lakh as extortion

In what appears to be the height of lawlessness in Bihar, two jailed criminals have asked an Additional District and Sessions judge to cough up extortion of Rs 10 lakh, or else “seven bullets will be pumped into his body when he visits the court.”

The extortion and death threat have been issued to ADJ, Rakesh Malviya, who is posted in Muzaffarpur and holds the additional charge of Special Vigilance Court and Special Excise Court in the district.

The threat has been issued through a letter sent by Speed Post to the judge, who has been asked to pay the extortion sum at the entrance of the Sadar Hospital at Muzaffarpur.

The letter has been issued in the name of two hardened criminals Anil and Pawan, who incidentally, are lodged in Muzaffarpur’s Khudi Ram Bose Central Jail. The letter carries the name of the third person as AK Prasad and has a mobile number for further contact. The letter has specifically asked the judge to pay Rs 10 lakh in Rs 2000 denomination only.

Soon after receiving the letter, the judicial officer informed the District Judge and proceeded on leave. The judicial officer’s Nazir (clerk) eventually lodged an FIR in this connection at the Town Police station. “A case has been registered under Section 383 (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” said DSP, Ramnaresh Paswan, adding that security of the court and the judicial officer have been beefed up.

“An FIR has been lodged in this connection. An investigation is on and efforts are being made to identify the culprits with the help of cyber cell cops,” said Senior SP (SSP) of Muzaffarpur, Jayant Kant.