PIL challenges provision that let Anand Mohan walk out of jail
Patna (PTI): A petition has been filed in the Patna High Court, challenging the amendment to Bihar's prison rules that facilitated the release of Anand Mohan, a gangster-turned-politician, after serving life sentence for killing an IAS officer three decades ago.
Mohan, who had been an MP prior to his conviction in 2007, was released from Saharsa jail on Thursday morning.
The petitioner, Anupam Kumar Suman, shared the information on his Twitter handle, along with screenshots of e-filing of the Public Interest Litigation on Wednesday.
"I yesterday filed a PIL in the high court challenging the dangerous (khatarnaak) amendment that allowed for remission of sentence awarded to a convict in murder of a government servant in Bihar," Suman wrote in Hindi.
Mohan's name figured in a list of more than 20 prisoners who were ordered to be set free by a notification issued by the state law department earlier this week as they had spent more than 14 years behind bars.
His remission of sentence followed an April 10 amendment of Bihar Prison Manual by the Nitish Kumar government whereby the restriction on early release of those involved in killing of a public servant on duty was done away with.
This, critics claim was done to help release Mohan.
Incidentally, Suman is a former civil servant himself who took voluntary retirement from Indian Revenue Services a few years ago to take the political plunge.
"May justice and the rule of law prevail. Satyamev Jayate", Suman added with a rhetorical flourish, avoiding the mention of the name of Anand Mohan, whose release has evoked protests from family members and well-wishers of the slain IAS officer G Krishnaiah.
Krishnaiah, who hailed from Telangana, was beaten to death by a mob in 1994 when his vehicle tried to overtake a funeral procession in Muzaffarpur district.
Mohan, who was the sitting MLA from Mahishi, was leading the procession taken out upon the death of his close associate Chhotan Shukla, another dreaded gangster who fell to bullets of his rivals before realising his political ambitions.
Notably, Suman is widely remembered for his tenure as Patna's Municipal Commissioner. He was indicted for the huge water-logging in the city in 2019, after a few days of heavy rainfall.
The 2004-batch IRS officer was served with a show cause notice well after quitting service and he reacted by alleging that his higher ups, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar himself, shared the blame for the havoc wrought in the state capital.
Suman is associated with Plurals Party, founded and headed by Pushpam Priya Choudhary, an intriguing figure about whom little is known except that her father was formerly an MLC of Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and she fought the 2020 assembly polls as the "chief ministerial candidate" of her fledgling outfit.
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Tribal man brings dead sister's skeleton to bank to withdraw money from her account
Keonjhar (PTI): A tribal man in Odisha's Keonjhar district on Monday brought the skeleton of his dead sister to a bank to withdraw the money deposited in her name, police said.
The incident occurred at Maliposi branch of Odisha Grameen Bank located at Patana block of Keonjhar district. The man was identified as Jeetu Munda (50) of Dianali village. He was seeking to withdraw Rs 20,000 from the bank account of his elder sister, Kalra Munda (56), who died on January 26, 2026.
"I have run several times to the bank, and the people there told me to bring the account holder to withdraw money deposited in her name. Though I told them that she had died, they did not listen to me and insisted on bringing her to the bank. Therefore, out of frustration, I dug the grave and brought out her skeleton as proof of her death," an illiterate Jeetu Munda told reporters.
Patana Police Station Inspector in charge (IIC) Kiran Prasad Sahu, who reached the bank after getting information, said, "Jeetu is an illiterate tribal man. He does not know what the legal heir or nominee is. The bank officials have failed to make him understand the procedure to withdraw money from the dead person's account."
However, after the incident, the police assured Jeetu Munda that they would facilitate the withdrawal of money from the bank account of his dead sister. Later, the skeleton was again buried at the graveyard in presence of police.
Meanwhile, local Block Development Officer (BDO) Manas Dandpat said that he was not approached by anyone for the legal heir of late Kalra Munda. "Today only, I came to know about it. We will see what can be done to resolve the issue," the BDO said.
Meanwhile, bank sources said that the nominee in Kalra Munda's bank account was also dead. Therefore, Jeetu Munda was the lone claimant over the money deposited in her name.
The local administration has directed the bank officers to make arrangements and ensure that Jeetu Munda, who is the only claimant as per the rules, gets the money as soon as possible.
