JD(U) strongman Anant Singh arrested after deadly clash in Mokama days before Bihar polls

In a dramatic escalation just days ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, Janata Dal (United) candidate and controversial strongman Anant Singh was arrested early November 2 after a deadly clash in Mokama’s Tartar village left one person dead and several others injured.

The incident, which unfolded October 30 afternoon under the Ghoswari police station limits, allegedly involved supporters of JD(U) and the Jan Suraaj Party led by political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor.

According to officials from the Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) office, the clash erupted between 3:30 pm and 3:40 pm, prompting an immediate police response. “Upon arrival, officers found two to three four-wheelers with shattered windshields. Inside one of the vehicles lay the body of 75-year-old Dular Chand Yadav, a resident of Tartar village,” a senior officer said.

Yadav, believed to have multiple criminal cases against him — including those under the Arms Act and murder charges — was a figure long embedded in Bihar’s political circles. His associations reportedly spanned from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, and even to the now-arrested Anant Singh himself.

Witnesses and police sources said the violence erupted when Jan Suraaj Party candidate Priyadarshi Piyush’s convoy crossed paths with Singh’s supporters between Tartar and Basavanchak villages. Soon after, reports emerged that Singh’s convoy too had come under attack.

The Bihar police, already on high alert for election-related violence, have intensified their presence in the area. Singh’s arrest — a political jolt for the ruling JD(U) — adds fresh turbulence to a high-stakes contest in Mokama, a constituency notorious for its volatile mix of crime, power, and politics.