Bihar CM acts on complaint from Patna traders that
Janata Dal (United) MLA Anant Singh’s men threatened them to move
from a building on posh Fraser Road
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When
threats go wrong: Police survey the Fraser Road property
in Patna |
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The
police had not filed an FIR against MLA Anant Singh initially.
They did so only when the CM intervened |
Governments in Bihar
have been notorious for not booking criminals-turned-MLAs of the ruling
party, even if they had heaps of public complaints against them. The
Rashtriya Janata Dal’s 15-year rule was particularly infamous
for it. But things look to be heading for a change under the nine-month-old
NDA government.
Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar has turned out to be the flag-bearer of a clean-up when
he ordered the registration of an FIR against Janata Dal (United) MLA
Anant Singh during his weekly janata durbar. The police immediately
registered an FIR against the MLA whose gun-toting men had been trying
to forcibly occupy prime property in the heart of Patna by frightening
the occupants with eviction.
The 32-cottah plot
on the posh Fraser Road houses several shops and showrooms, some of
them of popular brands. Nearly every trader here had been asked to vacate
at the earliest as armed men working for the Mokama legislator claimed
that he had bought it — a claim contested by the traders and other
tenants. Anant Singh’s men had been telling the traders that the
MLA had bought and registered 16 cottahs of the plot, and had entered
into an agreement with the “rightful owners” for the rest.
Though the aggrieved
traders had already filed a police complaint against the MLA a month
ago, the police had not taken action fearing Singh, a Bhumihar politician
notorious for his bahubali (strong-arm) activities. Singh also has some
criminal cases against him. Secondly, he also enjoyed quite a reputation
for being close to Nitish Kumar, for whom he had campaigned when the
CM had contested from the Barh Lok Sabha seat. Most people in Patna
and Mokama were afraid of Singh and his men till recently because no
action was yet to be taken against him despite the Nitish government
acting against a few legislators like him.
The MLA inspires
such fear among Patna’s traders that Vijay Kumar Yadav, proprietor
of Maharani Restaurant in the Fraser Road building, had preferred to
keep quiet despite his strong political links. He is the brother of
RJD MLC Nawal Kishore Yadav. “All of us had kept quiet for months
despite harassment by Anant Singh’s men, like threats of dire
consequences, dumping garbage outside my restaurant, and coercing restaurant
employees into filing false complaints against me,” Vijay Yadav
told Tehelka. He said he had bought six cottahs with a passage on the
plot eight years ago and that most other traders have similar documents.
The MLA has also put up his nameplates at four places in the complex.
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Grounded
Bahubali: Anant Singh |
After hearing Yadav’s
complaints, Nitish called the Kotwali police station officers to his
residence and directed them to file an FIR against Anant Singh. He also
asked IGP (Headquarters) Anil Sinha to ensure lodging of an FIR against
Anant Singh and proper legal action thereafter.
Soon after his order,
the CM’s remarks at the janata durbar reasserted his seriousness
about finishing off Bihar’s criminal-politician nexus. “JD(U),
RJD, Congress or BJP, it hardly matters which party, caste, or religion
one is from. Everyone is equal in the eye of the law. Businessmen should
not have fear of anyone in Bihar. We will act tough against anyone who
tries to take the law in his own hands,” said a resolute Nitish
Kumar, who has earlier thrown out a minister for having a criminal past
and suspended a party MLA recently for his drunken behaviour with mediapersons.
The disputed Fraser
Road plot originally belonged to Mehdi Hasan Imam, who died without
an issue. His wife also died some years ago. The JD(U) MLA’s men
claimed that the Imam family had “gifted” the land to their
servants and that they, in turn, had sold it to the MLA. These claims,
when one examines the documents in the traders’ possession, look
bogus. The FIR lodged against Anant Singh also charges the MLA with
forging documents.
Anant Singh has
denied the charges and insists that he has the valid documents. Senior
police officers who know him say: “The Special Task Force of Bihar
Police has records against him till 1995, after which no case was lodged
against him.” In 2004, while Singh was seen brandishing an ak-47,
no action was taken against him though only security personnel were
allowed to carry the assault rifle. Sources say that Anant Singh, along
with Lok Janshakti Party mp Surajbhan Singh and RJD mp Mohammad Shahabuddin,
is keen on acquiring prime land in Patna.
In an unexpected
after-effect, Saryug Paswan, the JD(U) MLA from Fatuha, got an FIR lodged
against his son, Bheem, for threatening shopkeepers. A pds shopkeeper
had complained to the MLA that Bheem had been extorting Rs 500 from
him. The MLA then reached the shop to see how his son was vandalising
and issuing threats. When Bheem refused to listen to him, the MLA filed
the complaint.
Nitish Kumar has,
however, sent out strong messages that no politician or criminal would
be extended any state patronage. He started out this campaign by denuding
Jitenram Manjhi of his ministerial berth within days after the new government
was sworn in. Last fortnight, the CM ordered expulsion of MLA Sunil
Pandey from the party for his misbehaviour with a TV news crew in a
drunken condition at a posh Patna hotel. Pandey has 24 criminal cases
pending against him and is reportedly close to the banned violent upper-caste
outfit Ranveer Sena.
