Bokaro, April 29: Criminal-turned-politician from Bihar and Baniapur legislator Dhoomal Singh alias Manoranjan Singh is in for a tough time. Wanted in three cases, the latest being the murder of iron trader Ashok Chowdhry, Dhoomal’s move to get anticipatory bail from different courts has backfired.
The rejection of Dhoomal’s bail applications have spurred the police into action. They have drwan up a list of Dhoomal’s immovable property in the city, which will be attached soon after issuing a notification. Later, his property at Baniapur, Chapra, Bokaro, Patna and three other places will also be sealed, said a senior police officer.
Dhoomal heads an underworld gang dealing in scrap iron and bags plum contracts running into crores. He is wanted in the murder of scrap iron trader Ashok Chowdhry, who was killed near Ellora Hotel in February 2004. Two motorcycle-borne militants pumped bullets into him from point blank range. Police sources said Chowdhry had more than Rs 20 crore in different bank accounts in Bokaro and allegedly had close links with Dhoomal before differences cropped up. It’s alleged that Chowdhry used to collect money on behalf of Dhoomal Singh and even managed to bag plum contracts with the help of the don.
The trader, who led a hand-to- mouth existence only 10 years ago, amassed a huge amount of money in a very short span, police sources said. After an investigation, former superintendent of Bokaro police Anil Palta charged Dhoomal with plotting Chowdhry’s murder. Since then, the criminal-turned-politician has been evading arrest.
Palta sent a police team to Chapra in Bihar to arrest Dhoomal, but due to non-cooperation of the Chapra police, the team had to return empty-handed.
Police sources in Bokaro said they cut a sorry figure as the high-level officials refused to divulge any information on him, saying the don might have taken shelter in Jharkhand to evade arrest.
Police sources said in this Lok Sabha election, Dhoomal was seen canvassing for a candidate. After he was shown on television, the Bokaro police made an attempt to arrest the don, but failed.
Bokaro superintendent of police Raj Kumar Mallick told The Telegraph today that after giving a proclamation in the court, the police would start attaching Dhoomal’s immovable property.
“The police will not let Dhoomal take the law in his hand. We have failed to arrest him despite sending a police team to Chapra and the next step is attachment of property. We will not allow Dhoomal to do what he wants. His move to get anticipatory bail has failed. The police have received the details of the property and soon the people will know how tough the police can get,” the superintendent of police said.
