Anant Singh.
| Photo Credit: THE HINDU
Jailed in an Arms Act case, gangster-turned-politician, Ex MLA Anant Singh came out of the Beur jail on Friday (August 16) at 5:10 a.m. On Wednesday (August 14, 2024) the Patna High Court had set aside the conviction of a former MLA in two cases of similar nature that had earned him sentences of 10 years.
Former independent Bihar MLA Anant Singh was charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) after an AK-47 rifle, 22 cartridges and two bombs were recovered from his ancestral home.
A large number of supporters and well-wishers were present when he was walking out of the jail to welcome him. Mr. Singh’s family members were also present outside the jail to welcome and greet him. His sons Abhishek Singh and Ankit Singh were present outside the jail.
Former Mokama MLA, Mr. Singh came out of jail in an ambulance and later sat in his car which had come to receive him and left for the village.
Mr. Singh had faced disqualification following the first order of conviction passed in June 2022, relating to a case lodged after an AK-47 rifle, ammunition and two hand grenades were recovered from his ancestral residence two years earlier. The second case, in which the order came in July 2022, related to the recovery of an INSAS rifle recovered in 2015.
“I got justice and it feels good to be out of jail. Now action should be taken against Lipi Singh who had wrongly framed me. I will urge Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to hand over the case to the CBI so that the truth can come out in the public domain. She is the one responsible for putting me in jail though I was innocent,“ Mr. Singh also known as Chote Sarkar said while interacting to the media soon after coming out of jail.
Lipi Singh of the 2016 batch was a Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Barh in Patna district and is the daughter of former MP and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader R.C.P. Singh. That time RCP Singh was in Janata Dal-(United).
She along with another IPS officer had raided the house of Mr. Singh in which the arms and bombs were recovered.
Mr. Anant Singh earlier came out on parole for 15 days during the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and had campaigned for Janata Dal (United) candidate Rajiv Ranjan Sigh alias Lalan Singh on the Munger seat. Both Lalan and Mr. Singh are from the Bhumihar caste and Singh had a good hold over this caste. His campaign helped the JD-(U) due to which he won the election.
Mr. Anant Singh’s son Mr. Ankit Singh, who came to take his father home, “I had full faith in the court that my father would come out of the jail and we will get justice. There can be a delay in god’s house but not injustice, today truth has won.”
Following his disqualification, a by-poll was held on the Mokama seat in November 20222 and Mr. Singh’s wife Neelam Devi had contested on the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ticket and won the election. However, during the trust vote when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had left RJD and formed the government with BJP, Ms. Devi did cross-voting and voted in favour of NDA in February 2024. Ever since she voted in favour of Mr. Kumar, the discussion started that sooner or later, there would be some positive development.
Altogether, Mr. Anant Singh spent five years in jail.
