Patna’s special court of MP MLAs sentenced 10 years of jail to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Anant Singh on June 21, 2022 for keeping rifle AK-47, hand grenades and cartridges in home. The weapons were recovered from MLA’s home in 2019.
MP/MLAs special court’s special judge Trilok Dubey decides the appropriate punishments according to the law. The MLA was declared guilty in court on June 14.
Background of the case
On August 16, 2019, a group of Patna police officers led by the city’s then-SP Lipi Singh conducted a raid on Anant Singh’s home in his native hamlet of Nadwa. An 11 hour long operation was carried out in which 2 hand grenades, 26 cartridges, a magazine and AK-47 rifle was recovered from MLAs residence.
After the seizure of the weapons Singh tried to escape the police to keep away from the confining situation.
Later, MLA Anant Singh shared a recorded video message blaming the political forces for plotting the scenario against him. He also said that he would directly surrender before the court and not before the police.
In August 2019, Singh surrendered before the Saket court in New Delhi.
Hearing details in brief
The prosecution side called 13 witnesses throughout the hearing of this case, and the court recorded their statements. 34 witnesses were also produced by the defence side.
Anant Singh owns the home in the village of Nadwa, although he wasn’t residing there. A caretaker was assigned the house to look after the property.
Behind the large box was a hutment where the AK-47 rifle was kept. The nearby cottage was where the hand grenades were found.
According to the authorities, the AK-47 was uniformly wrapped in a plastic bag, then layers of carbon, to avoid being picked up by metal detectors while being transported.
Crime Charges history of Bahubali MLA
Numerous murder, kidnapping, and land-grab cases have been filed against Singh.
When two journalists were allegedly held prisoner in Singh’s official house in 2007, his actions drew the attention of the country. They reportedly went there to question Singh about his role in the murder and molestation of Reshma Khatoon, whose body was found in a sack not far from the city.
Singh was also allegedly engaged in the murder and assault of four teenagers. The major accused of eve teasing, Puttus Yadav, was tortured to death while the four teenagers were kidnapped and severely abused.