Patna: Police on Sunday raided the house of Belsand MLA Amit Kumar Ranu, who belongs to Union minister Chirag Paswan’s party, in connection with a land dispute case involving his brother Sonu Singh. Police reached the MLA’s residence around 6am and conducted the search for nearly four hours.The case relates to an Aug 20 incident in Bairiya, where Sonu Singh, along with his alleged associates, is accused of demolishing houses and huts under construction using an earthmover. According to the complaint, people who opposed the demolition were allegedly abused, assaulted and threatened with being forced to vacate the land. An FIR was registered at Ahiyapur police station on Aug 21 on a written complaint by Prahlad Kumar against two named accused and around 50 unidentified people.The raid was conducted after police obtained a search warrant from a court on Saturday for the residence of MLA Amit Ranu and his brother Sonu Singh alias Abhinav.Muzaffarpur SSP Kantesh Kumar Mishra said police recovered documents including partnership-related papers, bank account documents and a signed blank stamp paper of 2017 during the search.According to police, the complainant alleged that people were told they could remain on the disputed land only after paying money to an alleged “boss”. Taking the matter seriously, the SSP directed the formation of a special team under the supervision of City SP (East) and ASP Town. The team included personnel from Ahiyapur police station and other police officers.Police said two accused, Sumit Kumar Srivastava, a resident of Nariyar under Motipur police station area, and Sunny Singh of Saraswati Nagar in Bairiya under Ahiyapur police station area, were arrested within 24 hours of the incident and sent to judicial custody.The SSP said 12 more people subsequently submitted applications, following which separate FIRs were registered at Ahiyapur police station, naming Sonu Singh as an accused.Police are also examining the alleged role of MLA Amit Kumar Ranu. “MLA’s role has also emerged as suspicious during the probe. Police have been examining evidence collected from the location, including videos of the incident, to establish the role of those allegedly involved,” the SSP said.Following the search, Ranu said police had arrived at his residence with a search warrant but alleged that the action reflected the administration’s failure to address the underlying land dispute. He claimed that he and his family members had approached police and local authorities over alleged encroachment and illegal construction, but their complaints were not acted upon.
