Bihar polls: JD(U) candidate Anant Singh sent to 2-week custody in Jan Suraaj worker’s killing

A local court in Patna on Sunday sent Janata Dal (United)’s Mokama candidate Anant Singh and his two associates to two weeks of judicial custody in connection with the killing of a Jan Suraaj worker after a clash between alleged supporters of the two parties earlier this week, PTI reported.

Singh was arrested on Saturday along with two others – Manikant Thakur and Ranjeet Ram – in connection with the case.

The worker, Dularchand Yadav, was found dead inside a vehicle in Tartar village of Bihar’s Patna district on Thursday.

The area is part of the Mokama Assembly constituency, which goes to polls on November 6.

The state is under the model code of conduct, with Assembly elections scheduled for November 6 and November 11. The counting of votes will take place on November 14.

During a press conference, Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Kartikeya Sharma stated that all three accused persons were present at the site when the clash took place and would be produced before the magistrate.

Sharma added that Yadav’s post-mortem report showed he died of cardiorespiratory failure due to shock caused by injury to the heart and lungs by a hard and blunt substance, reported PTI.

“Therefore, the post-mortem report and preliminary investigation suggest that it’s a case of murder,” the police officer was quoted as saying by the news agency.

According to Sharma, four first information reports were registered in connection with the clashes, including one pertaining to the violation of the model code of conduct.

Jan Suraaj’s Mokama candidate Priyadarshi Piyush had told the police on Thursday that he was on his way for election campaigning when he encountered the JD(U)’s convoy between Tartar and Basavanchak villages.

Piyush said that “as the two convoys came face to face, an altercation broke out, followed by stone throwing and physical assault”.

Singh had said that he and his supporters were meeting voters when the Jan Suraaj convoy allegedly began shouting slogans against them.

“I told my supporters not to respond, and we moved away,” said Singh. “Some of my vehicles were behind us… [Rival convoy] started attacking our vehicles. I moved ahead with about 30 vehicles behind me and they attacked 10 of the vehicles at the rear. My supporters’ vehicles were vandalised.”

Zero tolerance for violence: Chief poll officer

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said that violence would not be tolerated in Bihar and that voters would be able to cast their votes peacefully and freely, PTI reported.

His remarks came a day after the poll body took action against officials in Patna following the Mokama violence.

​​“The Election Commission has zero tolerance towards any form of violence during polls,” PTI quoted Kumar as saying. “Any act of violence will not be tolerated. All voters will be able to cast their votes peacefully, freely and transparently. The Election Commission is fully prepared for this,” he said.

He added that everyone was equal before the poll panel, regardless of political affiliation.

He said: “For the Election Commission, there is no paksh or vipaksh [ruling side or opposition]. Everyone is samkaksh [equal] before us.”

On Saturday, the Election Commission ordered the transfer of Patna Superintendent of Police (Rural) Vikram Sihag in connection with the clashes in Mokama, PTI reported.

The poll panel also ordered the appointment of new officials to replace the sub-divisional officer of Barh, Chandan Kumar, who is also the returning officer of the Mokama Assembly seat.

The sub-divisional police officer Barh-1, Rakesh Kumar, and sub-divisional police officer Barh-2, Abhishek Singh, have also been transferred, The Hindu reported.

The poll panel has ordered for Abhishek Singh to be suspended.