Disqualified RJD MLA sentenced to 10 years RI in another arms case

Patna: Former RJD MLA Anant Kumar Singh, who lost his membership of the assembly last week following conviction in a criminal case, was on Thursday sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in yet another matter relating to recovery of arms and explosives from his residence.

Singh, who is one of the most dreaded gangsters-turned-politicians spawned by the badlands of Bihar, was awarded the sentence by Special Judge, MP/MLA court, Triloki Nath Dubey, in the case relating to recovery of a bullet-proof jacket, some hand grenades and ammunition from his government accommodation here in 2015.

Earlier, he was awarded the same quantum of sentence by the court in June in a 2019 case relating to the recovery of an AK-47 rifle, rocket launchers and hand grenades from his ancestral residence in Mokama, about 100 km from here.

The former MLA has won Mokama assembly seat five times on the trot as an Independent as well as on tickets of RJD and JD(U) of arch rivals Lalu Prasad and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar respectively.

He was disqualified by the assembly vide a notification dated July 14 in view of his conviction in the Mokama case.

Known to put his foot in the mouth, Singh, who nonetheless remains immensely popular in his constituency, spouted venom against the judge after the pronouncement of the latest order.

Court sources were of the view that the ex-MLA may end up being charged with contempt of court for the comments he made on camera.

Meanwhile, Singh's counsel Sunil Kumar told reporters, "We had appealed against the previous conviction in the high court. We will be doing so in the present matter. My client is innocent." PTI NAC ACD