PATNA: Bihar's MLA Anant Kumar Singh alias Anant Singh on Tuesday was sentenced to undergo 10 years imprisonment in connection with an Arms Act case.
On June 14, a local court had held him guilty and fixed June 21 to pronounce the quantum of punishment.
Singh, known for his muscle power across the state, has been convicted by the court for the first time. The case is related to the recovery of an AK-47 assault rifle, two hand grenades and 26 live cartridges from his ancestral house at Ladma under the Barh sub-division in Patna district in 2019.
It is said that Singh, popularly called 'Chhote Sarkar' by his supporters, may lose his membership in the House. A large number of his supporters were present on the court premises when he walked out of the courtroom, while he was escorted by security personnel to the vehicle waiting outside to take him to the Beur central jail.
However, Singh's legal counsel Sunil Singh said that his client would appeal to the high court after going through the copy of the judgment.
Singh has been charged with murder, kidnapping, extortion and besides cases under Arms Act. Singh, once considered close to Nitish Kumar, however, fell out ahead of the 2015 assembly elections in the state and then contested as an independent candidate from Mokama, which he has been winning since 2005.
He later joined RJD led by Lalu Prasad. In 2020, he contested the election from behind the bar and won on the ticket of RJD. Soon after the results of the assembly polls were announced, Singh had predicted a fall of the Nitish Kumar government.
However, he succeeded in getting his trusted man and RJD candidate Kartik Kumar elected as MLC from the Patna seat after defeating the JDU candidate in April this year. This may have irked Nitish, who also holds the home portfolio.
Singh's legal counsel said that the lawmaker's supporters have often cited the action against him (Anant) as a result of political rivalry. The four-term MLA is currently lodged in Beur central jail in Patna.