Raja Bhaiyya's father gets 5 yrs imprisonment

Jabalpur, June 2 (UNI) The POTA special court today acquitted Uttar Pradesh Food and Civil Supplies Minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya and his Parliamentarian brother Akshay Pratap Singh but sentenced his father Uday Pratap Singh to five years' imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 25,000.

Special Judge R C Mishra found main accused Uday Pratap guilty of keeping weapons, including prohibited ones, in his possession.

The court also upheld the Uttar Pradesh Government decision to frame POTA case against him.

The POTA case against Raja Bhaiyya and two others was transferred to Madhya Pradesh from Uttar Pradesh in November last year on the directive of the Supreme Court, which revoked the Uttar Pradesh Government's decision to withdraw the POTA case against them after Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav assumed chief ministership.

Mr Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya won his first Assembly election as an independent from Kunda in Pratapgarh district in 1993 when he was just 26.

A strong Thakur leader in Uttar Pradesh, Raja Bhaiyya was detained under POTA in 2002 when Mayawati was the Chief Minister.

Cases under Gangsters Act, Arms Act and Explosives Substances Act were also registered against him.

Police had recovered AK 56 during a search of his ancestral house. His 65-year-old father and brother Akshay Pratap Singh were also sent to jail under POTA. Mr Akshay is at present Lok Sabha member of the Samajwadi Party.

After becoming Chief Minister on August 29, 2003, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav announced withdrawal of POTA case against them, but it was challenged in the Supreme Court.

Raja Bhaiyya had earlier said he had been falsely implicated by the Mayawati government.

''As an independent MLA, I had the courage to ask her to prove her majority on the floor of the house. It was a democratic demand but soon after that cases were registered against my father, and me'' he told mediapersons.

More than 27 criminal cases had been registered against him.

UNI XC-SP MA RAI2047