The Bihar Police on Saturday arrested Janata Dal (United) candidate Anant Singh in connection with the killing of a Jan Suraaj worker following a violent clash between supporters of the two parties in Patna district’s Tartar village earlier this week. The deceased, identified as Dularchand Yadav, was found dead inside a vehicle on Thursday.
The incident took place in the Mokama Assembly constituency, which will vote on November 6 in the first phase of the Bihar elections. The state is currently under the model code of conduct, with the second phase scheduled for November 11 and counting to be held on November 14.
Along with Singh, the police also arrested two others Manikant Thakur and Ranjeet Ram. Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Kartikeya Sharma said during a press conference that all three accused were present at the site of the clash and would be produced before a magistrate.
Sharma said that Yadav’s post-mortem report showed he died from cardiorespiratory failure caused by shock due to injuries to the heart and lungs from a hard and blunt object. “The post-mortem report and the preliminary investigation suggest that it’s a case of murder,” Sharma said.
The police have registered four FIRs related to the clashes, including one for violating the model code of conduct.
Jan Suraaj’s Mokama candidate, Priyadarshi Piyush, told police that he was on his way for election campaigning when his convoy encountered JD(U)’s convoy between Tartar and Basavanchak villages. “As the two convoys came face to face, an altercation broke out, followed by stone-pelting and physical assault,” he said.
Anant Singh, however, claimed that he and his supporters were peacefully meeting voters when members of the rival party began shouting slogans against them. “I told my supporters not to respond and moved away,” Singh said. “Some of my vehicles were behind us, and they attacked around ten of those vehicles. My supporters’ vehicles were vandalised.”
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has taken strict action in response to the violence. It ordered the transfer of Patna Superintendent of Police (Rural) Vikram Sihag and Barh sub-divisional officer Chandan Kumar, who was also the returning officer for the Mokama constituency. Two sub-divisional police officers, Rakesh Kumar and Abhishek Singh, were also transferred, with Abhishek Singh ordered to be suspended.
