Jharkhand gangster with 160 cases plans to run for Assembly elections from jail

Convicted gangster Aman Sao plans to contest Jharkhand Assembly elections despite facing legal hurdles and imprisonment.

An gangster from Jharkhand lodged in a Raipur jail – whose name, according to his own lawyer, features in nearly 160 criminal cases – is planning to contest the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections. 

Twenty-six-year-old Aman Sao - who hails from Matbe village in Ranchi and is known to extort money from and attack those running mining businesses in mineral-rich areas according to police dossiers - is planning to contest election from the Barkagaon Assembly constituency that goes to polls on November 13. His lawyer, Hemant Shikarwar, who had come to attend a court proceeding in Raipur, said his client will file a writ petition in the Bilaspur High Court seeking permission to be taken to Jharkhand for filing nomination papers. 

“At present, Aman is in Chhattisgarh. We will have to seek permission from courts in both Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to make his nomination possible,” Mr. Shikarwar said. His client meanwhile was produced before a Raipur court that sent him on judicial remand till October 28. 

The court production was following his custodial interrogation in connection with a case registered against him at the Ganj police station in Raipur, one of the two cases lodged against him here.   

However, travelling to Jharkhand may not be the only hurdle Aman faces in contesting the election as an independent. 

According to Mr. Shikarwar, he is convicted in two cases in his home State for which he has been sentenced to three and six years imprisonment respectively. “The Representation of the People Act, 1951 disqualifies anyone who is serving a prison term of more than two years. We have filed two petitions, one each in the Jharkhand High Court and in a Latehar court seeking the suspension. We have based these petitions on a Supreme Court order from the past in which the top court had suspended the conviction of [ex-cricketer and politician] Navjot Singh Sidhu, paving the way for him to contest the elections. We will now move the Chhattisgarh High Court seeking his travel to Jharkhand, even if he is accompanied by security personnel,” said Mr. Shikarwar, adding that his client was an accused in 160 cases, including murder and attempt to murder.   

The last date for filing nominations for the second phase of Jharkhand elections is October 25