Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The Patna high court on Thursday granted bail to Anant Singh in connection with the murder of Jan Suraaj supporter Dularchand Yadav.Anant Singh had been arrested ahead of polling in the Bihar Assembly elections last year along with two associates, Manikant Thakur and Ranjeet Ram.Despite his arrest, Singh went on to win the Mokama Assembly seat in Patna district by a margin of 28,206 votes, defeating RJD candidate Veena Devi, wife of Surajbhan Singh, who secured 63,210 votes. He later took oath as an MLA in the Bihar Assembly and sought blessings from chief minister Nitish Kumar before assuming office.Dularchand Yadav was killed during a clash between supporters of rival candidates in Mokama on October 30. Singh was accused of orchestrating the incident and was arrested on the night of November 1.Earlier, Bihar Director General of Police Vinay Kumar had said that the death was not caused by a gunshot injury but due to cardiac and respiratory failure, as per the post-mortem findings.“A bullet mark was found on the leg of the deceased, but it was not the cause of death. The primary cause was determined to be cardiac and respiratory failure,” DGP Vinay Kumar said.Following the incident, two station house officers were suspended. Ghoswari SHO Madhusudan Kumar and Bhadaur SHO Ravi Ranjan were removed from duty, officials said.The Mokama contest had drawn attention as it involved two strongmen — Anant Singh and Surajbhan Singh — who have long dominated the region’s political landscape.In the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, the NDA secured a landslide victory, winning 202 out of 243 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan managed 35. The ruling alliance crossed the 200-seat mark for the second time after its 206-seat win in 2010.
