Controversial former Bihar MLA and Janata Dal United (JDU) candidate from Mokama seat, Anant Singh, was arrested late Saturday night in connection with the murder of Jan Suraj supporter Dular Chand Yadav.
Singh has again contested the elections from Mokama seat on the ticket of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party JDU. Singh is under investigation after the murder of Yadav. Yadav recently had a fight with Singh’s supporters. Singh was arrested from his home in Barh, about 200 km from the state capital.
The police have also arrested two other persons, Manikant Thakur and Ranjit Ram, who were present at the time of the incident. All three will be presented before the magistrate soon.
Yadav died on Thursday while campaigning for Jan Suraj Party candidate Piyush Priyadarshi in Patna’s Mokama area. The incident took place in Mokama area near Bhadaur and Ghoswari police stations.
“Police have arrested three people – Anant Singh, Manikant Thakur and Ranjit Ram – in connection with the murder of Dular Chand Yadav,” Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Karthikeya Sharma, while addressing a late night joint press conference with Patna District Magistrate Thiagarajan SM, said.
SSP said that according to the post-mortem report of Yadav, Yadav died due to cardiac arrest due to injury to the heart and lungs by some hard and blunt object. “Therefore, the post-mortem report and preliminary investigation reveal that it is a case of murder,” he said, adding that the investigation also revealed that all three were present at the time of the incident.
The SSP said, “Yadav has been arrested as part of the police investigation into his murder case. The police have registered a total of four FIRs to investigate the incident, one of which pertains to violation of the Model Code of Conduct. Singh’s name is included in one of the FIRs, he said.
Singh’s wife Neelam Devi, who has been an MLA several times, is currently an MLA from Mokama seat. A case of violation of the Model Code of Conduct has also been registered against Singh as cases of him traveling with a large convoy have come to light.
When asked about Yadav’s murder, Singh admitted to a clash between his supporters and Yadav, although he tried to put the blame on the ‘underworld’ and his old rival in local politics, Suraj Bhan. Surajbhan’s wife Veena Devi is contesting from this seat on Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ticket. Yadav, a notorious gangster of the 1990s, had enmity with Anant Singh.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission on Saturday took a tough stand on the violence that broke out during the election campaign in Bihar’s Mokama and ordered the transfer of Patna Superintendent of Police (Rural) and action against three other officers.
Let us tell you that voting will be held in two phases in Bihar on 6th and 11th November and the counting of votes will take place on 14th November.
