Journalism of Courage
Already on parole to attend the engagement ceremony of his MLA son Chetan Anand, gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh was released from jail in Bihar’s Saharsa early Thursday to “avoid traffic chaos and unnecessary media attention”.
In 2007, Mohan, 69, was convicted for the murder of the then Gopalganj district magistrate G Krishnaiah in 1994. He had been serving a life term in connection with “inciting a mob to kill Krishnaiah” during a protest march on December 5, 1994, in Muzaffarpur. The Patna High Court had commuted his sentence to life in 2008. On April 10 this year, the Bihar government amended its jail manual to allow remission to convicts who have completed 14 years as against the prior provision of 20 years. On April 24, the Bihar law department ordered his release.
Mohan, who reached his paternal home in Saharsa’s Pachgachhia, said both Krishnaiah and his family suffered because of the lynching incident. Mohan also dropped enough hints of resuming his political innings, saying he would soon “sit together with old friends and well-wishers” to decide future plans.
After reaching Saharsa, Mohan said: “I have already given my views. I call my stay in jail for 15 and a half years as a cruel decision of destiny but I tried to channelise my energy into doing positive works by writing six books including one on mountain man Dasrath Manjhi”.
Sources in Saharsa jail said Mohan had to complete formalities before the release. “We have to crosscheck if he has been on bail in other pending cases or not. Once we confirmed all his papers, we decided to release him around 3 am to avoid traffic chaos or unnecessary media attention. In any case, he had been on parole and had returned to Saharsa jail on 26 April for a few hours just to complete the paperwork,” said a jail official.
As the news of Mohan’s release spread, his supporters had started gathering outside the prison since the morning. When they learnt that Mohan had already been released, they left for the town in anticipation of meeting him. Mohan is scheduled to travel to his Pachgachhiya home later in the day. A cavalcade of cars had been reaching Saharsa town as police have been deployed on the possible travel route of Mohan.
On Wednesday, Anand Mohan’s Chetan expressed his desire to meet the family of Krishnaiah.
