Former BJP MLA shifted to Dumka jail from Dhanbad prison

Former BJP MLA Sanjiv Singh onSunday was shifted from the divisional jail here to DumkaCentral Prison on security reasons, a senior prison officialsaid.

Ajay Kumar, superintendent of Dhanbad Divisional Jail,said, ''Amid tight security cover, he was shifted to Dumka jailin the afternoon.'' Singh, two times former Jharia MLA, has been in jailsince April 2017 in the murder case of his cousin-cum-formerdeputy mayor of Dhanbad Neeraj Singh.

Neeraj Singh was shot dead on March 21 in 2017.

Both of them had contested against each other for theJharia assembly seat in 2014.

Sources at the Dhanbad prison said, besides SanjivSingh, all the other accused of the Neeraj Singh murder casehave been shifted to different jails, as per an order from IG(prisons).

Aman Singh has been shifted to Hotwar Jail in Ranchi,Shibu alias Sagar has been moved to Ghaghidih Jail inJamshedpur, Sonu alias Qurwan to Medninagar, Chandan to Dumkajail and Pakaj to a prison in Hazaribagh.

On Saturday, Sanjiv Singh's lawyer had filed anapplication in the district court, mentioning that his (SanjivSingh)'s health condition had deteriorated and doctors haveadvised him to undergo treatment in a hospital.

But before the scheduled hearing on Tuesday, jailadministration on Sunday shifted him to Dumka Central Jail.

Sources said there was a constant threat to SanjivSingh's life because he was the scion of 'Singh Mansion', theseat of political and economic power in Dhanbad.

Besides rivalry for control of 'Janata Mazdoor Sangh',an influential trade union here, Neeraj Singh had contestedagainst Sanjiv Singh (BJP candidate) on a Congress ticket forJharia seat, considered stronghold of the Singh family.

Since 1977 to 1991, late Suryadev Singh hadrepresented Jharia seat. His younger brother Bachcha Singh wonthis seat in 1999, Suryadev Singhs wife Kunti Devi tastedsuccess from the constituency in 2004 and his son Sanjiv Singhin 2009 and 2014 assembly polls respectively.

Purnima Singh, wife of Neeraj Singh, was elected as anMLA from Jharia constituency in 2019.