Dhanbad, April 9: A Dhanbad court held Ramadhir Singh guilty of murdering a trade union leader and his driver today, almost 17 years after they were chased and gunned down in their car, the first conviction against a resident of Singh Mansion that is home to the coal capital's most famous family of power brokers, politicians and businessmen.

The court of district and sessions judge VII of Dhanbad, Nikesh Kumar, held Ramadhir guilty of killing union leader Vinod Singh and his driver Mannu Ansari on July 15, 1998, under Section 302 of IPC and Section 27 of the Arms Act.

Judge Kumar rejected a bail bond submitted by Ramadhir's counsel, Abhay Kumar Sinha, and issued a non-bailable arrest warrant (NBW) against him, saying that a sentence would be pronounced once he appeared in court, either on his own or when police arrested him.

Ramadhir, the chairman of the district board of Balia (Uttar Pradesh), is in Delhi undergoing medical treatment, family sources said. His wife Indu is Dhanbad mayor.

The court, however, acquitted Bachcha Singh, former state urban development minister and Ramadhir's elder brother, who was also an accused.

Assistant public prosecutor Brajendra Prasad Singh said, "Bachcha Singh was acquitted of charges under Section 120 (b) IPC due to lack of evidence, but Ramadhir was held guilty under IPC Section 302 and Section 27 of the Arms Act."

DSP (law and order) Amit Kumar said they would act against Ramadhir once they received the warrant from the court. "We may visit Delhi to get him or he may be produced at the recently inaugurated e-court in Dhanbad through video-conferencing from his place of treatment in Delhi."

This conviction trains the spotlight on Dhanbad's Singh Mansion, which over the last few decades has had a tumultuous relationship with the law. For years, the mansion's occupants - informally called Dhanbad's "first family" - have held sway over colliery trade unions. They have often been linked to murders and illegal business dealings.

Ramadhir and Bachcha happen to be younger brothers of the late Suryadeo Singh, during his time a law unto himself and one of the most colourful and ruthless personalities the region has ever seen.

A muscleman rising from the ranks of colliery trade union politics, he was elected MLA five times from various political factions. During the early 90s, after Suryadeo died of a heart attack, Bachcha took the baton, but could be elected from the JDU just once.

Seeing the family's grandeur flagging, Suryadeo's widow Kunti displayed steely nerves and joined the BJP, from where she became a two-time Jharia MLA and groomed her son Sanjeev for politics. In December 2014, Sanjeev became a BJP MLA from Jharia.

As Kunti became a power centre at Singh Mansion, infighting among Suryadeo's surviving brothers broke out and alliances were formed. As Kunti and Ramadhir's wife Indu are sisters, the two branches of the family tree stayed close.

Kunti's proximity to Ramadhir makes his conviction more significant.

The 1998 murders are a well-documented fact. Vinod Singh, a trade union leader belonging to Bihar Janta Khan Mazdoor Singh, was killed with driver Mannu Ansari near Bhagat Singh Chowk of Katras at 9.30am on July 15, 1998 while they were coming from Dhanbad in an Ambassador car.

The assailants, following them in their Maruti, chased them till Katras, about 20km from Dhanbad city, and opened indiscriminate fire, killing both.

At the time, the police claimed they recovered 36 bullet shells from the spot while the Ambassador was riddled with over 30 bullet holes.

Vinod's younger brother Dun Bahadur Singh lodged a case against Ramadhir, his elder brother Bachcha Singh and their nephew Rajeev Ranjan Singh. Others added to the list of accused were the Maruti driver, Anil Yadav, and Sher Bahadur Singh.

Rajiv Ranjan has died, but Sher Bahadur and Anil Yadav are missing.

In all, 19 witnesses were examined during 16 years of trial that moved to Jharkhand High Court and Supreme Court before being referred back to Dhanbad for a final hearing.

Six months after the killing of Vinod, his elder brother Sakaldeo Singh was murdered on January 25, 1999, near Hirak Road. Bachcha and Ramadhir were named accused once again, but both were acquitted.

Bachcha and Ramadhir were embroiled in murder, that of coal trader Pramod Singh, once again in October 2003, but were exonerated yet again.

Ramadhir, along with son Sashi Singh and nephew Sanjeev Singh, who is now Jharia MLA, were named accused in the December 7, 2011 murder of former district treasurer of Congress and coal trader Suresh Singh.

Sashi Singh, the prime accused, is absconding.