Cash-for-votes : Five Jharkhand MLAs to be questioned

Five Jharkhand MLAs would face questions of the Vigilance Bureau in connection with their alleged involvement in the 2010 cash-for-vote footage shown on a news channel, a senior police official said on Tuesday. “Four persons of the sting operation team of a national news channel deposed before the investigating officer Raj Kumar Lakra yesterday on the cash-for-vote case. Now we will summon the accused,” IGP M V Rao told reporters here. The sting operation team members also took the officer to the so-called spots where they had “interacted” with these MLAs for their sting, he said. [caption id=“attachment_167182” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“PTI”] [/caption] The accused MLAs are Rajesh Ranjan, Savana Lakra, Yogendra Sao (Cong), Simon Marandi (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) and Uma Shankar Akela (BJP), he said, adding another JMM MLA Teklal Mahato passed away recently. An FIR was lodged in connection with the cash-for-votes on the direction of the Election Commission, he said and added the probe got delayed due to the late deposition by the sting operation team. The news channel showed a footage purportedly showing the six legislators of Jharkhand Assembly allegedly demanding money for arranging votes for the Rajya Sabha poll candidates. “The sting operation team has handed us over the unedited version of the tape,” Rao said. PTI