Released for ‘good conduct’, prohibited items were seized from Anand Mohan’s prison ward in 2021 and FIR was lodged 

In the wee hours on April 27, 2023, gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh was released from Saharsa jail after 15 years

In the wee hours on April 27, gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh was released from Saharsa jail after 15 years, nine months and 25 days on remission for his ‘good conduct’ in prison. However, a case lodged against him at Saharsa Sadar (town) police station in October 2021 said some prohibited items like mobile phones, SIM cards and chargers were seized from his ward in the jail.

Ever since Mr. Singh was released from the jail, he has gone incommunicado and his whereabouts could not be traced. His children—son Chetan Anand who is an MLA from Rashtriya Janata Dal and daughter Surabhi Anand did make their brief presence in the their ancestral village Panchgachhia in Saharsa where large number of villagers had gathered to welcome Mr. Singh’s release on April 27. But he himself disappeared. 

People close to Mr. Singh said he wanted to avoid media so he chose to go straight to Dehradun, where venue of his son Chetan Anand’s marriage is fixed. Mr. Singh, recently, was on a two-week parole from jail — third time in last six months — to attend the ring ceremony of his son. “He (Anand Mohan) did not want to create more buzz and land in soup while speaking to media on his release, so he might have gone straight to Dehradun for his son’s marriage ceremony”, said a person who claimed to be a close aide of Anand Mohan Singh. 

However, the claim of several ruling party JD(U) and RJD leaders that ‘good conduct’ of Mr. Singh in jail for his remission and release from jail fell flat as in a raid by district administration in his prison ward of J.P. Block inside Saharsa jail on October 23, 2021, as many as four mobile phones, some SIM cards and chargers were seized. Mr. Singh was serving life term inside ward number 1 of the Saharsa jail since 2007 after his conviction in the murder case of ex-IAS officer and former District Magistrate of Gopalganj G. Krishnaiah, 37, in Muzaffarpur on December 5, 1994.  The raid was conducted by the then District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police in Saharsa and later jail superintendent Suresh Chaudhary. 

Later, Mr. Chaudhary lodged an FIR (no: 813) at Sadar (town) police station of Saharsa against Anand Mohan Singh for keeping ‘prohibited’ items inside his prison ward. Mr. Chaudhary, significantly, was transferred from Saharsa jail after the raid. 

On April 27, when Bihar Chief Secretary Amir Subhani defended Mr. Singh’s release from jail saying it was “done under the standing normal procedure”, he expressed ignorance about the FIR lodged against Mr. Singh for keeping prohibited items inside his prison ward in 2021. “I’ve no information about this”, quipped Mr. Subhani when asked about mobile phones seized from Mr. Singh’s prison ward in 2021 and an FIR was lodged against him. 

“Doesn’t it sound ironical when Chief Secretary of a State holding a press meet on the release of a prisoner like Anand Mohan Singh and says he has no idea of an FIR lodged against him in 2021 for keeping some prohibited items inside his jail ward?”, asked a senior bureaucrat of the State preferring anonymity. “It’s ridiculous”, he added.