By IANS,
Patna : It can happen only in Bihar. Criminal-turned-politician Viveka Pahalwan, who is lodged in Beur jail here, threw a big party inside the prison to celebrate a “personal victory”, police sources said Sunday.
Pahalwan, a fierce rival of controversial Janata Dal-United (JD-U) legislator Anant Singh, hosted a party for more than 3,000 inmates of the jail Saturday night. “It was a huge party, never seen before inside the jail,” a police official said.
Special vegetarian dishes and sweets were served to all inmates and reportedly to the jail officials also.
“Special dishes were cooked at a kitchen inside the jail for the party,” jail sources said.
However, about 200 to 250 inmates, considered loyalists of Anant Singh, refused to join the party — reportedly organised by Pahalwan to “celebrate a setback” to Anant Singh. “Those who refused to eat were Singh’s men in jail,” an official said.
Despite several attempts by IANS to contact jail officials, they remained unavailable to comment on the issue on record.
According to police records, Pahalwan, who is also related to Singh, is a notorious criminal, who is accused in the killing of the legislator’s elder brother Fazo Singh and several other cases including murder, kidnapping, extortion and loot.
A senior police official had Tuesday termed Anant Singh a “threat” to the peaceful conduct of the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar.
In a letter to the state’s chief electoral officer, Amitabh Kumar Das, commandant of the Bihar Military Police-11 at Jamui, said that ensuring a free and fair election would be difficult as Anant Singh could attempt to intimidate voters or capture polling booths.
Das alleged Anant Singh has several sophisticated weapons at his home in his ancestral village of Nadma in Barh sub division of rural Patna district. The weapons, including AK-47 rifles and light machine guns, might be used to threaten voters.