Dhananjay files papers from Malhani as JD (U) candidate

LUCKNOW : Former MP, Dhananjay Singh, filed his nomination from the Malhani assembly constituency of Jaunpur on Wednesday, after the UP Special Task Force (STF) withdrew charges of criminal conspiracy against him in connection with the murder case of former block pramukh, Ajeet Singh, in which he was earlier declared absconder by a Lucknow court in July, 2021.

The former MP filed his papers as a candidate of the Janata Dal (United), which is in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar.

His wife, Sri Kala Reddy, and some JD (U) leaders of Bihar were present during the nomination. Dhananjay Singh’s candidature from JD (U) was officially announced a few hours before his nomination. Moreover, the suspense over his legal status cleared a day before..

The BJP, however, had fielded another former MP, Krishna Pratap Singh, as its candidate from the same seat. Krishna Pratap Singh had won Jaunpur parliamentary seat as BJP candidate in 2014 while Dhananjay Singh won the same parliamentary seat as Bahujan Samaj Party candidate in 2009.

Dhananjay’s lawyer Aadesh Kumar Singh had earlier said that the STF had already submitted its report (dated February 9, 2022) to the court stating that he was only accused of harbouring the offenders and not giving information to police about them under IPC Sections 212 and 176, respectively, as per findings of the investigation so far while further probe was on.

He said the court went through the report and now the former MP was no longer an absconder. as was declared earlier, when he was accused of criminal conspiracy by the Lucknow police.

The lawyer said IPC Sections 212 and 176 are bailable offences, so there was no need to procure bail at present and it will be required only when the charge sheet will be submitted in court. However, as a part of legal strategy Dhananjay Singh’s bail application was filed in the case in a Lucknow court earlier this month. A senior police official said Dhananjay Singh’s name had earlier surfaced during the Liuchow police’s investigation in the murder of former block pramukh Ajeet Singh, who was shot dead by four motorcycleborne shooters outside a crowded commercial plaza in Vibhuti Khand locality of Lucknow on January 6, 2021. He said the Lucknow police had then procured non-bailable warrant against him, accusing him of being part of the criminal conspiracy in the murder and the city court declared him an absconder in the case and a reward of ₹25,000 was declared on him.

The official said the case investigation was later transferred to the UP STF on January 7, 2022, after which the charge of criminal conspiracy was withdrawn against Dhananjay Singh. He said Singh was seen active in the recently held panchayat elections, in which his wife, Sri Kala Reddy, contested and emerged victorious to become chairman of Jaunpur zila panchayat.

Meanwhile, the former MP on Tuesday appeared in a Jaunpur court in connection with a warrant issued against him in another case of kidnapping and demanding extortion from a UP Jal Nigam project manager Abhinav Singhal in May, 2020. The court cancelled the warrant on deposition of a personal bond of Rs 50,000. Dhananjay Singh first won the assembly election from Jaunpur’s Rari constituency as an independent candidate in 2002 and the second time as JD (U) candidate in 2007. He became MP from Jaunpur on BSP ticket in 2009. His father got elected from the Rari assembly seat in a by-election. He again contested assembly polls from Malhani constituency in 2017 as a candidate of a lesser-known political outfit Nirbal Indian Shoshit Humara Dal and bypolls in November 2020 as an independent candidate, but lost in both the elections.

Before becoming MLA for the first time in 2002, Dhananjay Singh’s name had surfaced in different crime incidents and the police had claimed to have gunned him down in an encounter in Bhadohi in October, 1998, after killing three persons in retaliatory firing. He, however, later appeared alive nearly after four months and a criminal inquiry was set up against the police team that claimed to have to gunned him down. As many as 39 criminal cases were lodged against him between 1991 and 2021, but he was acquitted in most of them and nine cases were still pending against him.