Objecting to the release of Anand Mohan Singh from Bihar’s Saharsa jail, the widow of slain District Magistrate G Krishnaiah who was murdered by the gangster-turned-politician, on Thursday appealed to President Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and ask Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to send him to jail. This comes after Gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh walked free from Bihar’s Saharsa jail early Thursday morning, a move which was mandated following the amendment of the prison rules by the Bihar government allowing the release of 27 convicts including him.
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.
The daughter of the deceased IAS officer, Padma asked the state government to reconsider its decision and urged Nitish Kumar to give his decision a second thought. “It’s disheartening for us that Anand Mohan Singh has been released from jail today. The government should reconsider this decision. I request Nitish Kumar ji to give a second thought to this decision. With this decision, his govt has set a wrong example,” she said.
Padma said that the family will appeal against the decision of the government. “It is unfair not just to a family but to the whole nation. We will appeal against this decision,” 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 of 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.
