NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday that the arrest of Bihar MP Pappu Yadav is an act of political vendetta aimed at intimidating and silencing every voice that demands accountability from the government.
In a post on X, Gandhi said Yadav stood as the voice for justice for an NEET aspirant who recently died under mysterious circumstances in Patna.
"This is not politics; it is a question of justice. It is a question of the honour and safety of Bihar's daughters," the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
"His arrest today is clearly an act of political vendetta, aimed at intimidating and silencing every voice that demands accountability," he added.
Gandhi said the suspicious death of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) aspirant in Patna and the entire sequence of actions that followed have once again "exposed the deep rot" in the system.
"When the victim's family demanded a fair investigation and justice, the same old BJP-NDA playbook came into play -- derail the case, harass the family and shield the culprits with the power of the State," the former Congress president said.
"The most alarming fact is that this incident does not appear confined to a single case. It points towards a terrifying conspiracy and a dangerous pattern, where more daughters are falling victim, and those in power sit with eyes shut to this horrifying reality," he said in his post in Hindi.
The NEET aspirant, hailing from Jehanabad, was found unconscious in a girls' hostel at Patna's Chitragupt Nagar last month. She died at a private hospital on January 11 after remaining in a coma for days. Her family has alleged that she was sexually assaulted, accusing authorities of attempting a cover-up.
The Bihar government has recently recommended a CBI probe into the case, which was being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Independent MP from Bihar Rajesh Ranjan, popularly known as Pappu Yadav, was arrested by the Patna Police from his residence late on Friday in connection with a case dating back to 1995, officials said.
High drama unfolded at Yadav's house in Patna's Mandiri locality when a police team arrived to execute a warrant issued by an MP-MLA court in the case registered under section 467 (forgery of documents) of the Indian Penal Code.
Yadav, who represents the Purnea Lok Sabha constituency in the Lok Sabha, initially refused to accompany the police team, claiming that it was carrying a warrant for attachment of property and not his arrest.
He also claimed that he was being targeted for raising issues critical of the NDA government in Bihar.
"Of late, I have been highlighting the ineptitude of the government in handling incidents like the recent death of an NEET aspirant, which has brought to light the insecurity faced by girl students living in Patna's hostels," he said.
Earlier in the day, Yadav had told reporters at the Patna airport that he was receiving phone calls from girls who alleged that their hostel inmates were being pushed into the flesh trade.