Murderers in Politics - Anand Mohan

This is a continuation of my post of the criminals who make up our People's Representatives.

Death sentence to ex-MP Anand Mohan: A benchmark for Indian judicial system
Two others also awarded Capital punishment, MP’s wife got life term
6 Oct, 2007



LAST YEAR the verdict of the Delhi High Court in Jessica Lal murder case set a benchmark for the judiciary and the generations to come. Recently the Patna High Court once again given a good example of the credibility of the Indian Judicial system. In fact, for the first time in Independent India’s history, a former MP and two former MLAs were awarded capital punishment by the Patna District and Sessions Court. All these politicians were found guilty of lynching the District Magistrate of Gopalganj G.Krishnaiah in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar in 1994.

Additional Sessions Judge Ram Krishna Rai pronounced the death sentence on the former Member of Parliament Anand Mohan (leader of Janata Dal United), Akhlaq Ahmad, a former MLA from Bikramganj and now a RJD leader and Arun Kumar Singh. In addition, the court has given life sentences to the former MP from Vaishali, Lovely Anand, wife of Anand Mohan, Vijay Kumar Shukla alias Munna Shukla, Janata Dal (U) MLA from Lalganj, Harendra Kumar Shahi (leader Janata Dal United) and Shashi Shekhar Thakur.

Let us first have a look what exactly happened 13 years ago, when the DM G.Krishnaiah was brutally murdered. On 5th December, 1994, G. Krishhnaiah came across the funeral procession of alleged gangster and a BPP(Bihar People’s Party) leader Chotan Shukla, brother of Vijay Kumar Shukla. A mob accompanying the cortege of Chotan Sukhla, ignored the pleas of G. Krishnaiah who kept on saying that he was the DM of Gopalganj and not of Muzaffarpur district, where Shukla was gunned down a day earlier. Later the mob attacked G Krishnaiah, pulled him out of the car, stoned and beat him up mercilessly and then someone shot at him. In the murder case 36 persons were framed, out of which the judge acquitted 29 giving them the benefit of doubt.

Now coming back to the verdict of the Patna District and Sessions Court. On Monday, the Patna civil court held the seven accused guilty of murdering G.Krishnaiah, the 1985 batch Bihar cadre IAS officer, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh. All the seven accused were held by the court under IPC section 302 (murder), IPC section 307 (attempt to murder), IPC section 147 (rioting) and IPC section 427 (mischief causing damage). Additional Sessions Judge R K Rai said that it was one of the rarest of rare cases, in which a mob targeted an official as he happened to symbolise the government.

Besides the death sentence, the court also imposed a fine of Rs.25,000 on each of the seven convicts, half of the total sum would be given to Uma, wife of G.Krishnaiah. After listening the verdict of Uma, wife of G.Krishnaiah was looking quite satisfied but she told that the judgment came very late.

Really, the verdict of Patna District and Sessions Court has set a new standard in the judicial system of our country. Today when the people have little faith over the law and order situation of the country, at least the court has maintained its dignity by punishing the guilty. Next, the death penalty to the MPs is also a cause for alarm for those politicians who do not respect the District Magistrates or other top government officials across the nation. Now they will think twice before demoralising or harassing the government officials. Hats off to Indian Judiciary, we have proud over our judicial system.


April 8, 2009Anand Mohan : HC commutes death sentence to life term
Ajit Kumar - December 10, 2008 .

In a landmark verdict that is bound to have political ramifications, Patna high court commuted death sentence of ex-MP Anand Mohan to life imprisonment.

A division bench comprising Justices Shiv Kirti Singh and S M Mafooz Alam converted the death sentence into life imprisonment. Six others, including Anand Mohan’s wife Lovely Anand, also a former Lok Sabha member, were acquitted for lack of evidence.

“Since Mohan has been accused of inciting the mob to kill the victim and had not personally murdered him, the case does not fall in the category of rarest of rare cases and so his death sentence is converted into life imprisonment,” the court said.

Anand Mohan Singh, former Lok Sabha MP from Sheohar , was sentenced to death on October 3, 2007 by a trial court for the 1994 lynching of Gopalganj district magistrate G. Krishnaiya .

Krishnaiah was lynched by a mob accompaning the cortege of a Bihar People’s Part (BPP) leader Kaushalendra Shukla alias Chhotan Shukla on December 5, 1994. The mob was protesting the killing of former BPP leader Chhotan Shukla. Anti government sentiments were high as it was alleged that then Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav was responsible for Chhotan’s murder. The officer was pulled out of a car, beaten up and then shot dead.

Last year, Additional District and Sessions Judge Ramshreshta Rai awarded death sentence to Anand Mohan Singh as well as former Bihar minister Akhlaq Ahmad, now a leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and Arun Kumar, formerly with BPP.

The court also gave life imprisonment to four politicians, including former Lok Sabha MP Lovely Anand, a JD-U leader and wife of Anand Mohan, along with Munna Shukla, a JD-U legislator from Lalganj, and Shashi Shekhar Thakur and Harendra Kumar, who lost the last Lok Sabha election as a JD-U candidate.

Anand Mohan - Profile.
Anand Mohan, who hails from Pachgachhia village in Saharsa district of Bihar, is a grandson of the great freedom-fighter Ram Bahadur Singh. His family was like any other middle-class farmer’s family.

Anand Mohan’s folks recall him as a rebel Rajput youth who dropped out of college and joined the JP movement in 1974.

He sprang into limelight after showing black flags to then prime minister Morarji Desai at a public meeting in Saharsa.

Subsequently, he formed a gang of criminals. But he could not be arrested as locals shielded him whenever there was a police raid. Soon, he acquired the image of Robinhood, riding horses and attacking the rich and the mighty and helping the poor.

Anand Mohan surrendered in court in 1983 and was jailed.

He made a foray into electoral politics, winning the Mahishi assembly seat in Saharsa district in 1990 as a Janata Dal candidate.

The following year, he married Lovely Anand, a modest girl from a middle-class Rajput family.

Anand Mohan parted ways with the JD after the implementation of the Mandal Commission report and began challenging Pappu Yadav, then an MLA with a criminal background from Madhepura.

Pappu enjoyed political patronage from Lalu Yadav, then Bihar CM. While Pappu became a political icon for the youth and criminals from backward classes, Anand Mohan became a role model for the upper caste youth in the Kosi belt. Clashes between their supporters became frequent in Madhepura, Purnea and Saharsa districts.

Anand Mohan’s anti Lalu gestures made him a hero of Rajput youth.

Anand Mohan’s political career got a major boost when he fielded Lovely Anand against JD nominee and wife of veteran politician of the state SN Sinha in a by-election to the Vaishali parliamentary constituency in 1994 as an independent candidate and ensured her victory.

Soon after this victory, he was named accused, with his MP wife Lovely, in the killing of G Krishnaiyyah and arrested.

He was released on bail by the Patna high court after a few months. By that time Lalu’s party had split in Bihar and George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar had formed the Samata Party (SP). The SP tried to rope in Anand Mohan during the 1995 assembly elections, but he instead formed the Bihar People’s Party (BPP) and fielded about 100 candidates.

He was put back behind bars as the supreme court cancelled his bail on a plea by the state government in the Krishnaiyyah murder case.

Finding his political charisma vanishing after his involvement in this case and having lost badly in the elections, Anand Mohan joined hands with George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar.


This is the 5th criminal from Bihar who has been convicted of Murder.
He too was testing the ground.
If the other four criminals, Pappu Yadav, Shahabuddin, Suraj Bhan and Mohammed Taslimuddin had been allowed to contest he too would have done so.
Like the others, he too is putting up his wife Lovely Anand to contest.
There is nothing Lovely about her.
She too was accused along with her husband and had been awarded Life Imprisonment.
However, she was released by the HC.
Somehow, our Courts mange to free criminal politicians because the admistration is not very serious in prosecuting them.
It is worth noting here that Anand Mohan subsequently joined Nitish Kumar id the JD (U).
I get a feeling there was a connection although i consider Nitish slightly more honest than the others.
But then everything is fair in politics.
Yesterday's foes may be today's friends and again tomorrow's enemies.
We have seen it in the Congress / Lalu and Congress / CPM relationship.
Even now when they are fighting, they are leaving post-election options open.