Patna: Amid the ongoing Bankipur assembly byelection campaign, police on Wednesday conducted searches at a hotel owned by Ravi Narayan Singh, a close associate of Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor, and party’s state secretary.Following the action, the party accused the Patna police of targeting its leaders and workers. Ravi Narayan alleged that police had repeatedly raided his hotels and the residences of party workers, demanding old guest registers and threatening to seal the properties and send him to jail.He claimed that police first contacted him around 11pm, seeking information related to the hotel. He said he requested time to retrieve the records, explaining that the register was kept at another office. Despite assuring the police that the documents would be provided within 10 days, he alleged that police officers threatened legal action.Jan Suraj’s state secretary further alleged that police searched both his hotels but found nothing. He claimed another team later searched his residence and questioned guests staying at the properties. He also accused Buddha Colony police station SHO Dinesh Singh of using abusive language during a phone conversation threatening to send him to jail.According to Singh, police also the visited the hotel where Prashant Kishor was staying, on the night of July 19 and sought to conduct a search.SHO Dinesh Singh told TOI that Buddha Colony police, accompanied by a woman police officer, had gone to the hotel to conduct a search, but the owner did not cooperate and misbehaved with the police.
