'He is innocent': Anand Mohan's wife thanks Bihar CM as former MP walks free from jail

Saharsa (Bihar): Gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh`s wife on Thursday welcomed the amendment of the Bihar Prisons manual which necessitated the release of his husband convicted in a murder case and thanked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the move.

Anand Mohan Singh, a convict in the then District Magistrate G Krishnaiah case, walked free from Saharsa jail before the break of dawn on Thursday.

"God knows that he is innocent. We also thank the Chief Minister. The Bihar government has amended the law and it should be welcomed," Lovely Anand, wife of former Bihar MP and murder convict Anand Mohan Singh said while speaking to ANI.

However, the family of the slain District Magistrate G Krishnaiah has objected to the release of Singh and sought the intervention of President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking to ANI, Uma Devi, wife of late Gopalganj DM G Krishnaiah, said, "I appeal to the President and the PM to intervene in this matter and ask CM Nitish Kumar to send him (Anand Mohan) back to jail."

She called the decision of the Bihar government to release the murder convict, who was initially given a death sentence by the trial court and was later commuted to a life sentence by the Patna High Court, "wrong" and said that the Chief Minister should not "encourage these types of things".

She also called for the boycott of the gangster-turned-politician if he contests elections in the future."The public will protest against the release of Anand Mohan, demanding to send him back to jail. Releasing him is a wrong decision. CM should not encourage these types of things. If he (Anand Mohan) will contest elections in the future the public should boycott him. I appeal to send him (Anand Mohan) back to jail," she said.

He was serving a life sentence in the 1994 murder of then Gopalganj District Magistrate G Krishnaiah. After the Bihar Government amended the rules of the Jail manual, an official notification stated that 27 prisoners who have served 14 years or 20 years in jail have been ordered to be released.Supporters of Anand Mohan Singh, welcomed his release from Saharsa jail in Bihar.

The gangster-turned-politician was earlier on parole for 15 days to attend the engagement ceremony of his MLA son Chetan Anand. He had returned to Saharsa jail on April 26 following the end of his parole period.Earlier on Wednesday, the state prisons department had released nearly 14 convicts from various jails of the state.Singh was among eight others who could not be released yesterday.

There has been a backlash regarding the former MP`s release from jail by the opposition in the state.Anand Mohan murdered Gopalganj District Magistrate G Krishnaiah on December 5, 1994, in Muzaffarpur. Krishnaiah was killed by a mob allegedly provoked by Anand Mohan Singh. He was dragged out of his official car and lynched.

G Krishnaiah, a 1985-batch IAS officer who hailed from Mahbubnagar in present-day Telangana.Anand Mohan was sentenced to death by a trial court in 2007. A year later, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the Patna High Court. Mohan then challenged the verdict in Supreme Court but no relief has been granted yet and he has remained in Saharsa jail since 2007.His wife Lovely Anand has also been a Lok Sabha MP, while their son Chetan Anand is an RJD MLA from Bihar`s Sheohar.