Criminals in Rajasthan getting political protection: MLAs

JAIPUR: The ruling Congress party was cornered in the assembly by its own legislators, including a parliamentary secretary, who alleged that some accused persons wanted by the police and the courts are getting political protection in the state.
During the debate on budgetary demands of the police and the jail departments, parliamentary secretary Giriraj Malinga alleged that the political leadership was restraining the police from acting against former BJP legislator Jaswant Singh against whom the high court has ordered probe in a murder case.
This led to a commotion in the house, with BJP chief whip Rajendra Rathore first demanding that the former legislator's name be expunged from the house proceedings and then asking Malinga why he was continuing to be a minister in the government that was not listening to him.
The parliamentary secretary, nevertheless, continued a concerted attack on the state government. Neither chairperson Surendra Jadawat nor minister of state for home Virendra Beniwal nor chief whip Raghu Sharma could persuade Malinga to calm down. Even as Beniwal assured the House to look into the matter, the parliamentary secretary wanted that the murder investigation to be handed over to the CBI. "I have met the minister, chief secretary and the DGP in this matter, still nothing has happened. When someone like me (with a minister's status) is not being heard, imagine the plight of that poor man who has been fighting for 16 years to bring his brother's killer to justice," Malinga said.
The matter related to murder of one Vikram aka Kalu, who was reportedly a driver of the ex-MLA from Dholpur. Outside the assembly, Malinga alleged before the media that the former legislator was wanted in this murder executed in 1996.
Before Malinga, BJP legislator from Bayana Gyarsaram Koli accused the ruling party of providing "political protection" to an elected panchayat body leader from his constituency declared absconder by the local court in a rape case. "I am not naming the person here because the ruling party will protest," Koli reasoned. The legislator, however, dropped enough hints to suggest that the wanted person was husband of a parliamentary secretary in the Gehlot government.
During the debate, Congress chief whip Raghu Sharma, too, made minister Beniwal look awkward when he intervened in the house proceedings to emphasise that the government should ensure that "at least one wing in the police" has a clean image. "Before appointing any policeman with the anti-corruption bureau, the government should ensure that the person has had a spotless career record," Sharma demanded.