ON March 6, Dhananjay Singh, mafia don and former MP of Jaunpur, was convicted by a local MP-MLA court in a case of kidnapping, extortion and criminal conspiracy from back in May 2020. Dhananjay, 48, and his aide Santosh Vikram Singh, were sentenced to seven years in a case relating to the abduction of a Jal Nigam project manager, Abhinav Singhal.
Purvanchal (eastern Uttar Pradesh), which includes places like Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Mau, is home to a number of notorious bahubalis, so no surprises that Dhananjay made the national headlines the next day. What did surprise was that this was the don's first conviction ever even though he has been 'active' for at least three decades, and at one time had 46 cases registered against him, including a few murders (folklore has it that he wrote his inter exams under police guard).
The conviction also came a day after Dhananjay had tweeted that he would be contesting the Lok Sabha election from Jaunpur, just hours after the BJP announced its candidate for the seat, Kripa Shankar Singh. The verdict itself was based on "evidence collected in the case", say police sourees, as the prime complainant, Singhal, had turned hostile. No wonder that his aggrieved supporters, who had collected in large numbers outside the court premises, were shouting slogans against the ruling dispensation in Lucknow and Delhi.
It's an open secret that Dhananjay, a three-time MLA and ex-MP with friends and influence across the political spectrum-who has had stints in the Bahujan Samaj Party, Nishad Party and the Janata Dal (United)-was hoping for a ticket from the ruling BJP. The Rajput don, a veteran of the Brahmin versus Thakur mafia wars in Purvanchal, had been out on bail till now despite the Yogi Adityanath regime's much-publicised crusade against crime. The righteous rage against gangsterism seen around the Atiq Ahmed killing last April had left him visibly unsinged.
Denne historien er fra April 08, 2024-utgaven av India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 08, 2024-utgaven av India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
A Plan For Your Lifestyle
Change your mindset to fit your shifting financial needs, rather than trying to fit your lifestyle into rigid rules to realise your financial dreams
CONSCIENTIOUS ASSETS
Mixing social responsibility and investing is an ethical way of making investment choices and has takers among a niche in the investor community
HIGH JUMPERS
They had never seen the inside of even a state legislature. Now they have catapulted to the national one
FLOOR-CROSSERS
The turncoats who clinched electoral wins after jumping ship and pledging new loyalties
BRIDGING THE GAP
Esther Duflo's Poor Economics for Kids is an illustrated children's version of the seminal economics text she co-wrote with Abhijit V. Banerjee
FROM DESK TO DAIS
Sa far, familiar with implementing policy, these former bureaucrats will now have an inside view of the legislative process itself
GODMEN, SHAMANS & CLERICS
From novice imams to suave dynasts to voodoo shamans to self-styled mahants, the whole gamut is on show in the House
WHAT IS AN ADVANCE MEDICAL DIRECTIVE?
An instruction recording the medical care preferences an adult individual wishes to opt for if they become incapacitated, it guides the family and healthcare providers
THE WRITE PLATFORM
Formerly members of the Fourth Estate, they will now occupy the seat of Indian democracy
A HARVEST OF AMBITIONS
Sons of the soil come in various packages, union men to strongmen to Left veterans. What they have in common is a deep connect with the land
