Ruling Janata Dal (United) legislator and strongman Anant Singh on Wednesday was taken into police custody after a police raid at his official residence in Patna. Six empty magazines of sophisticated Insas rifle, a bullet-proof jacket and some blood-stained clothes were recovered from Mr. Singh’s residence.
The police raided the JD(U) MLA’s residence in connection with a kidnapping and murder case under Barh police station of Patna. In the incident, four youths were kidnapped on June 17 but the next day, the body of one of them Putush Yadav, was recovered from Ladma, ancestral village of Anant Singh.
The JD(U) MLA, who is infamously known as “Chhote Sarkar” in Bihar, was named in the case. “His name has come into the case but the evidences were not sufficient so police investigations are going on against him,” said the outgoing Patna SSP, Jitendra Singh Rana.
Meanwhile, in a sudden move Mr Rana was transferred on Tuesday to Motihari in the same capacity. The buzz in town, however, was that he was transferred under pressure from the ruling party MLA against whom a number of criminal cases have been lodged. In 2007 he was also sent to jail for taking hostage a journalist at his official residence and beating him black and blue.
However, Sunil Kumar, Additional Director General of Police (Headquarter), later refuted the rumours and said Mr. Rana and some other police officials were transferred as an “administrative exercise in view of the law and order situation during the upcoming State Assembly polls”.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, Anant Singh told journalists that the outgoing Patna SSP had falsely implicated him in the case as he was “prejudiced against him and a corrupt police official not listening to his complaints”.
“He has some personal grudges against me in a connection with an old case…so he implicated me…he was a corrupt police officer,” charged Mr Singh.
However, a day after joining as new Patna SP, Vikas Vaibhav raided the official residence of Mr. Singh in Patna on Wednesday afternoon and his ancestral house in Ladma in Barh. After a four-hour raid, the police recovered six empty magazines of Insas rifle, a bullet proof jacket and some blood-stained clothes.
Later, Mr Singh was arrested in connection with an old case and taken to Secretariat police station for interrogation. “He has been arrested in connection with an old case of November 2014 in which he was also named as an accused. Later, we’ll also seek his remand from the court in connection with the arms recovered from his residence,” said Patna Police Superintendent Vikas Vaibhav.
Meanwhile, the political parties too have demanded action against the bahubali (strongman) Anant Singh. “The police must take action against the MLA and it will also be an acid test for the new Patna SSP,” said RJD chief Lalu Prasad while expelled RJD MP Pappu Yadav demanded a CBI inquiry into the murder and kidnapping case.
The JD(U) State chief Basistha Narayan Singh told journalists that law would take its own course and the government would not try to protect anyone found guilty in any case.
Meanwhile, while on his way to police station, Anant Singh told media persons that he was innocent and has nothing to do with the case.
