PATNA: The Patna High Court on Thursday granted bail to Anant Singh, a leader of the Janata Dal (United), in connection with the murder of Jan Suraaj supporter Dularchand Yadav. Singh was arrested ahead of polling in last year’s Bihar Assembly elections along with two associates, Manikant Thakur and Ranjeet Ram, according to news agency ANI. Despite his arrest, Singh won the Mokama assembly seat in Patna district by a margin of 28,206 votes, defeating RJD candidate Veena Devi, wife of Surajbhan Singh, who secured 63,210 votes. He later took oath as an MLA in the Bihar Assembly. Before the ceremony, Singh touched the feet of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to seek his blessings. Dularchand Yadav was killed during a clash between supporters of two candidates in Mokama on October 30. Singh was accused of orchestrating the killing and was arrested on the night of November 1. Earlier, Bihar DGP Vinay Kumar stated that the death was due to cardiac and respiratory failure, not a gunshot injury, based on the post-mortem report.“A bullet mark was found on the leg of the deceased, but it was not the cause of death. The primary cause was determined to be cardiac and respiratory failure,” DGP Vinay Kumar said. Following the incident, two SHOs—Ghoswari SHO Madhusudan Kumar and Bhadaur SHO Ravi Ranjan—were suspended in connection with the case, officials said. The Mokama contest had drawn attention as a battle between two strongmen—Anant Singh and Surajbhan Singh—who have long dominated the region’s politics. In the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, the NDA secured a landslide victory, winning 202 out of 243 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan managed just 35. The ruling alliance crossed the 200-seat mark for the second time, after achieving 206 seats in 2010.
