With just a few days left for the assembly elections in Bihar, a candidate of the ruling Janata Dal (U) was arrested in connection with the murder of a Jan Suraaj Party supporter.
Anand Kumar Singh, the JD(U)’s Mokama candidate and a former MLA, was arrested in a late-night operation. He was the prime accused in the murder of Dular Chand Yadav, a gangster-turned-politician.
Yadav (75) was campaigning for his nephew, Piyush Priyadarshi, in Mokama when he was killed during a firing between two groups on October 30.
Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kartikeya Sharma said Singh was arrested along with his two associates—Manikant Thakur and Ranjeet Ram. All three will be presented before the magistrate on Sunday.
"Three people have been arrested on murder charges, and raids are being carried out to arrest others. Soon, more arrests will be made. CID has also started investigating the case,” Sharma said.
Priyadarshi welcomed Singh’s arrest but said the action should have been taken soon after the incident.
“But better late than never. What is important now is how the police investigate the whole case... It is a relief for his family," he told ANI news agency.
The murder of Yadav has brought Mokama, a place known for the “bahubalis” in Bihar politics, again to the limelight. The constituency, which goes to the polls in the first phase of voting on November 6, is witnessing a contest between Singh and RJD’s Veena Devi, wife of influential leader Suraj Bhan Singh.
