Who is Anand Mohan Singh? Bihar don whose prison release has shocked slain IAS officer’s wife

The Bihar government recently announced the release of 27 prisoners, including former MP Anand Mohan Singh. Singh was convicted of murdering bureaucrat G Krishnaiah in 1994.

As soon as the news of his release became public, Uma Devi, wife of the slain IAS officer G. Krishnaiah was reportedly left “shocked and outraged” by the decision.

Who is Anand Mohan Singh?

Anand Mohan Singh is a gangster-turned-politician who is all set to be released from jail on Tuesday after serving 15 years for the murder of an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. The Bihar government amended its prison rules, removing the “murder of a public servant on duty” clause from the list of cases for which remission of jail term cannot be considered, which led to his release.

About the murder case

Anand Mohan Singh had been serving a life sentence for the murder of G Krishnaiah, a young IAS officer who was from Mahbubnagar in present-day Telangana. Krishnaiah was the Gopalganj District Magistrate at the time of his murder in 1994.

Anand Mohan allegedly incited a mob to lynch the officer during the funeral procession of his associate, Chhotan Shukla, who was also a gangster. In 2007, a court awarded death sentence to Anand Mohan Singh. However, a year later, the Patna High Court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment when appealed against the lower court’s verdict.

Singh's political career

Anand Mohan Singh was a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 1995. He was also elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) from Sheohar Lok Sabha seat in 1996 while being in jail. He was a member of the Samajwadi Party at that time. Anand Mohan is considered the leader of the upper caste and once ruled the Koshi region.

Controversy and criticism on his release

Anand Mohan Singh's release has sparked a political furore, with critics calling it anti-Dalit. BSP chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati recently tweeted that the Bihar government's preparation to change the rule to free Anand Mohan in the case of the merciless murder of a very honest IAS officer from a poor Dalit community of Mahbubnagar, Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana) is quite in discussions among a lot of Dalit people across the country for anti-Dalit negative reasons.