The Dhanbad court of the additional, district and session judge, Justice R.K. Singh, on Monday granted bail to Baghmara MLA Dhullu Mahto in a case of rioting, wrongful restraint and criminal intimidation lodged against him by Rajeev Kumar Srivastava, the nephew of former mines minister O.P. Lal on March 2 this year.

Mahto had been languishing in Dhanbad divisional jail since May 11, after his surrender in connection with an extortion demand from a Muzaffarpur-based trader.

The defence lawyers, led by senior advocate S.N. Mukherjee and comprising Radheyshyam Goswami and N.K. Savita, termed the police action against the MLA as “politically motivated”.

The public prosecutor opposed the bail petition, terming the nature of the case as beyond compromise.

Mahto had been sent to a day’s police remand on May 30 for interrogation.

The court also conducted a hearing against the MLA in another case of alleged rape lodged against him by a woman from Katras, Kamla Devi, and fixed the next date of hearing for Wednesday.

Goswami said, “The court granted bail after hearing both sides and with a submission of Rs, 50,000 as surety besides the condition that he will not tamper with evidence in the case.”

“The police lodged seven to eight cases as part of the political conspiracy against the MLA within a week following the change of government. Today, the court also heard the case related to rape,” he added.

He said they have evidence to prove that the case is false.

Rajeev Kumar Srivastava, in his complaint, alleged that Mahto had taken illegal possession of land purchased by him in the Ledidumar area of Baghmara in 2014.

When he went to inspect the land in July last year, along with his wife Nitu Rani and younger brother Amit Kumar, the Baghmara MLA, along with another local resident Subhash Singh and 10 other persons used filthy language against them and claimed that the land belonged to Mahto.

Srivastava alleged that Mahto had threatened him with a pistol.

Barora police had lodged a case against Mahto under Sections like rioting (147of the IPC), rioting armed with deadly weapons (Section 148), unlawful assembly (Section 149), wrongful restraint (Section 341), voluntarily causing hurt (Section 323), extortion by putting a person in fear of death (Section 386), intentional insult and provocation (Section 504) and Criminal Intimidation (Section 506).