Bihar don-turned-MLA Anant Singh may be tagged 'terrorist'

Controversial Bihar legislator Anant Singh, who has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) following the recovery of an AK-47 and grenades from his ancestral home, may be declared a terrorist. The UAPA was recently amended by the Centre to tag individuals as a terrorist.

What is likely to spell deep trouble for the gangster-politician, who is known as the 'don of Mokama' is the police probe which says that the sophisticated firearm recovered from Singh's home may have been used in "some big incidents''.

The police are also trying to determine if there is any connection between the recovery of sophisticated weapons from the MLA's home in Barh and an old case of smuggling of AK-47 rifles from Bihar's Munger district.

On August 9, 2018, three AK-47 rifles were seized from one Imran in Munger. Investigation tied the case to a Jabalpur-based defence organisation COD. The police later seized parts and magazines of 22 AK-47 rifles and arrested over three dozen people.

On the possibility of a link between the two incidents, Munger DIG Manu Maharaj said, ''We are trying to contact the Barh police and if we collect actionable evidence, we will proceed our probe in that direction.''

The police had raided the ancestral house of Singh, a multiple-term MLA from Mokama at Ladma village in Barh and seized an AK-47 rifle, a magazine, live cartridges and two hand grenades.

Singh, nicknamed 'Chhote Sarkaar' has a long criminal record and was recently summoned to the police headquarters in Patna for giving his voice sample in connection with a bid on the life of a Mokama-based contractor.
The MLA had attributed the raid to a conspiracy hatched against him at the behest of JD(U) MP Lalan Singh. The police have rejected Singh's allegations.

Rajiv Ranjan Singh, alias Lalan Singh is the JD(U) MP from Munger, the Lok Sabha constituency that also covers the Mokama assembly segment. He had defeated Singh's wife Neelam Devi, a Congress candidate, by a huge margin.

Singh was formerly known to be close to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar but fell out with him ahead of the 2015 assembly elections. It led to his exit from the JD(U) though he retained the Mokama seat as an independent.

Singh, known for his strong-arm tactics, has been accusing JD(U) leaders of conspiring against him to get him framed in criminal cases. Singh had made his political debut in 2005 on a JD(U) ticket when he wrested Mokama from another gangster-turned-politician Suraj Bhan Singh.