PATNA, India, 26 June 2006 — Police in Bihar’s capital of Patna have filed a case against influential ruling Janata Dal (United) legislator Sunil Pandey for nonpayment of bill and threatening to kill staff of a five-star city hotel. Pandey created scenes before TV cameras, when he was asked to pay bills for his stay in the hotel.
Police said that the legislator forcibly occupied a room in the hotel on Friday night and threatened to kill the employees when they asked him to pay the bill the next morning. A hotel employee quoted Pandey as threatening to “turn the hotel into a graveyard” when asked to pay. The employee said Pandey, who was drunk, came to the hotel with his wife Geeta and armed guards on Friday night and forcibly occupied a room.
City Superintendent of Police Vikas Vaibhab said a case has been filed against the legislator and police were looking for him.
Pandey, the legislator who represents Piro (Bhojpur district) in the Bihar Assembly, has dozens of criminal cases, including those of murder, kidnapping, extortion and rape, pending against him. He has been accused of involvement in the kidnapping of Patna neurosurgeon A.K. Chandra last year.
Reporters who had gone to the hotel to cover a function on Saturday learned of Pandey’s presence there and went up to his room. When they knocked on the door of the room, a furious Pandey threatened to shoot them.
Asked by the reporters whether he had paid for his stay there, Pandey claimed the hotel owed him over 4.76 million rupees. A senior police officer and hotel employees said on condition of anonymity that the legislator had stayed there without paying in the past too.
When state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was asked by reporters about the activities of Pandey, he replied: “Lodge a complaint and the police will take action impartially.”
Two months ago, Giriraj Singh, a legislator of JD-U’s ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), made threats against Patna Airport Director Atul Dikshit.
