Bihar: AK-47 rifle, explosives found in police raid at independent MLA’s home
Anant Singh, who has a long criminal record, claimed it was a conspiracy by a JD(U) MP. He is himself a former member of the JD(U).
Police in Bihar on Friday seized explosives and an AK-47 rifle during a raid at the ancestral home of three-time MLA Anant Singh. The AK-47 rifle was found “wrapped in sheets of paper”, police said. A case has been filed against Singh under the Arms Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Explosives Act, according to ANI.
Singh represents the Mokama Assembly constituency in Patna district. He was earlier a member of the Janata Dal (United) but won the 2015 Assembly election as an independent candidate after a fallout with the party. He has a long record of criminal allegations.
Singh claimed the raid was a conspiracy against him by JD(U) MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh, who defeated the MLA’s wife Neelam Devi to win the Munger parliamentary constituency in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. He claimed that as part of the conspiracy, “weapons not belonging to me were shown as having been recovered”, PTI reported. “My house has also been badly vandalised during the raid,” he said.
Neelam Devi had contested the election on a Congress ticket.
“We had received information that some illegal arms and explosives were stashed inside the house,” Superintendent of Police (Patna Rural) Kantesh Kumar Mishra said. “Accordingly, we conducted a raid. Ammunition and explosives were also recovered and bomb disposal squad will do the needful.”
Mishra rejected the MLA’s allegations and said the raid was carried out in the presence of a magistrate in accordance with law, and a caretaker of the house. The raid was videographed, he said.
Earlier this month, Singh was summoned to the police headquarters in Patna for giving his voice sample in connection with an attempt to kill a Mokama-based contractor, PTI reported.