Patna, 2 Nov

Former Bihar MLA Anant Singh, the JD(U) candidate from the Mokama seat, was arrested early on Sunday in connection with the murder of Jan Suraaj supporter Dular Chand Yadav, police said.

Singh has been under the scanner since the death of Yadav, who recently clashed with Singh’s sympathisers, and was picked up from his house in Barh, about 200 km from the state capital, Patna.

Police also arrested two other persons, Manikant Thakur and Ranjeet Ram, in connection with the killing of Yadav.

All three will be produced before a court during the day.

Yadav died while he was campaigning for Jan Suraaj Party's candidate Piyush Priyadarshi in Patna's Mokama area on Thursday.

The incident had taken place close to Bhadaur and Ghoswari police stations in the Mokama area.

Addressing a late-night joint press conference with Patna District Magistrate Thyagarajan SM, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Patna, Kartikeya Sharma, said, "Police have arrested three persons — Anant Singh, Manikant Thakur and Ranjeet Ram — in connection with the murder of Dular Chand Yadav.”

According to Yadav’s post-mortem report, he died of cardiorespiratory failure due to shock caused by injury to the heart and lungs by a hard and blunt substance, the SSP said.

“Therefore, the post-mortem report and preliminary investigation suggest that it’s a case of murder,” he said.

Investigations also revealed that all three were present at the time of the incident, Sharma said.

“They have been arrested as part of a police investigation into the murder of Yadav. A total of four FIRs, one pertaining to the violation of the model code of conduct, have been registered by the police to investigate the incident,” the SSP said, adding that Singh was named in one of the FIRs.

Singh, a local strongman, has been named as an accused along with four others in one of the FIRs, filed on the basis of a complaint by the grandson of Yadav, a gangster-turned-politician who was named in a number of criminal cases in the past.

Singh, the multiple-term former MLA, whose wife Neelam Devi currently represents the Mokama seat, has also been booked for model code of conduct violation, as instances of his movement in large cavalcades have come to the fore.

When asked about the killing of Yadav, Singh had admitted to a clash between his supporters and the deceased, but also sought to put the blame on Suraj Bhan, his old rival in the underworld and local politics, whose wife Veena Devi is contesting the seat on an RJD ticket.

Yadav, a dreaded gangster of the 1990s known to be at odds with Anant Singh, was supporting Priyadarshi Piyush, a political greenhorn fielded by PrashantKishor's Jan Suraaj Party.

Reacting to Singh’s arrest, RJD leader and INDIA bloc's CM nominee Tejashwi Yadav said, “It should have been done earlier. This is the 'jungle raj' in Bihar, where murders are taking place regularly. Recently, a man and his son were killed in Ara…Today, the prime minister is coming for a poll campaign, but he doesn’t see all these."

The RJD leader exuded confidence that the "INDIA alliance would form the next government in Bihar and he would take oath as the CM on November 18".

"Between November 26 and January 26, irrespective of caste or religion, all criminals will be sent behind bars," he said.

The grandson of Dular Chand Yadav on Sunday said the ‘brahambhoj' ritual will not be performed unless "all five accused are arrested and sentenced to death".

"We are demanding that all five people involved in the killing of my grandfather must be arrested. My grandfather was killed by his opponents with the help of the administration...”, the grandson of Yadav alleged, while talking to PTI Video.

He also said, “We will not proceed with the 'brahambhoj', a ritual performed after the death of a person, unless all five accused are arrested and sentenced to death."

Meanwhile, the Election Commission on Saturday ordered the transfer of Patna Superintendent of Police (Rural) and action against three other officials, taking a stern view of violence in Mokama, involving the killing of Yadav.

"The commission directed that Vikram Sihag, Superintendent of Police (Rural), Patna, may also be transferred. Hence, a panel of officers for posting a substitute in his place may be sent urgently," the poll authority told the state chief electoral officer on Saturday.

It ordered the appointment of new officials to replace the sub-divisional officer of Barh, who is also the returning officer of Mokama Assembly seat, sub-divisional police officer Barh-1, and sub-divisional police officer Barh-2.

While ordering disciplinary proceedings against the three, it also directed that Abhishek Singh, the sub-divisional police officer of Barh-2, be also placed under suspension.

Bihar goes to the polls in two phases on 6 and 11 November, while votes will be counted on 14 November.