Patna, Sep 30 (IANS) The Banka Police have arrested a youth, accused of threatening to kill Bihar Government’s Building Construction Minister and Amarpur MLA Jayant Raj via Facebook Messenger, an official said on Tuesday.

The arrest was made in Ludhiana, Punjab, and the mobile phone used to send the threat has also been recovered.

According to district SP Upendra Nath Verma, the case dates back to September 22, when the minister received a death threat message on his Facebook account.

The message contained objectionable remarks, pictures of weapons, and claims of association with the notorious Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

Following the threat, Minister Jayant Raj’s secretary, Mohan Kumar Singh, lodged a complaint at the Amarpur Police Station in Banka district.

A case was promptly registered under the relevant sections of the Arms Act and the Information Technology Act.

“Given the sensitivity of the matter, we formed a special investigation team headed by Banka SDPO Amar Vishwas and Cyber DSP Anupesh Narayan. Using technical surveillance and cyber tracking, the team arrested the accused from Ludhiana,” Verma said.

The arrested accused, Sandeep Paswan, is a resident of Salempur village in the Amarpur police station area of Banka district.

He was brought back to Bihar on a transit remand for further interrogation.

Police officials are now investigating whether Paswan had any genuine links to criminal networks or if the gang affiliation was a fake claim meant to intimidate.

The name of the notorious Lawrence Bishnoi gang continues to surface in Bihar as a tool of intimidation, with several prominent personalities recently receiving threats allegedly linked to the group.

Independent Purnea MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav was among those targeted.

Over the past few months, Yadav reported receiving multiple threatening calls and WhatsApp messages claiming association with the Bishnoi gang.

However, subsequent police investigations revealed these threats to be fake, with no direct involvement of the gang.

–IANS

ajk/dan