Tejashwi demands action against Bihar minister Jibesh Kumar for 'abusing, 'assaulting' journalist

Patna/Darbhanga, Sep 15 (PTI) RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday demanded action against BJP leader and Bihar minister Jibesh Kumar for allegedly abusing and assaulting a journalist for asking questions in Darbhanga district recently.

Yadav, the leader of opposition in the Bihar Assembly, also referred to a recent Rajasthan court order in which Kumar was allegedly held guilty of being involved in the manufacture of spurious medicines.

He demanded that the minister, who is the MLA of Jale constituency in Darbhanga, be sacked or asked to resign from the Nitish Kumar Cabinet in light of the order.

Talking to reporters, Yadav said, "We demand action against Kumar, who abused and assaulted a journalist for asking questions related to his constituency. The minister also hurled abuses at the mother and sisters of the scribe".

The RJD leader said the journalist is also a son or brother of someone.

“He was thrashed. I have never seen a minister using such abuses against a journalist and then beating him up. What kind of administration is this? I want to ask both the deputy CMs and the PM that if the law is equal for everyone, then why is no action taken against the minister?" Yadav said.

He also showed a purported video of the minister shouting at the journalist.

On the Rajasthan court order, Yadav said, "The BJP leader continues in the Nitish Kumar Cabinet despite the opposition's demand that he be sacked or asked to resign in the wake of the court ruling.".

Notably, Kumar is one of the directors of a drug company recently indicted by a Rajsamand court in Rajasthan. While the court did not award a prison sentence, it placed the Bihar minister under probation for a specified period.

Later in the day, Yadav, along with his party leaders and journalist Dilip Kumar Sahni, reached Singhwara police station in Darbhanga and ensured that an FIR was registered against the minister and two of his supporters.

Rejecting the charges levelled by the RJD leader, Jibesh Kumar alleged that it was the journalist and his supporters who had attacked him.

“There was a conspiracy to kill me. My security personnel managed to protect me and took me out of there. I escaped unhurt, but my security personnel suffered injuries,” the minister told reporters in Darbhanga.

He alleged that his attackers also threw stones and damaged vehicles of his convoy, and a police complaint was made on his behalf in that connection.

“None of my supporters or security personnel thrashed them. They sustained injuries on their own,” he said.

Sub Divisional Police Officer Surendra Kumar Suman said they have received complaints from both sides, and an investigation is on. PTI COR PKD NN