New Delhi: Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, a special court set up to try MPs and MLAs in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh has issued a permanent arrest warrant against former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday, April 5 in a case related to alleged illegal purchase of arms and ammunition in 1995-97.

"The case of 1995-97 relates to arms being purchased from an authorised dealer here by using fake documents. There were 23 accused in the case, which was registered at Inderganj police station, and all have been chargesheeted. Of these, Yadav has been declared an absconder," special public prosecutor Abhishek Mehrotra told PTI.

The permanent arrest warrant was issued by Mahendra Saini, Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC). As per the PTI report, prosecution mentioned that it was issued as no one appeared in court on behalf of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief.

Yadav was previously convicted and jailed in connection with cases related to the fodder scam. He was released on bail in April 2021.

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