<p>Patna: Former Bihar MLA Anant Singh escaped unhurt following an exchange of fire between two groups in Patna on Wednesday, police said.</p>.<p>No casualty has been reported during the firing so far, Patna's Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Avkash Kumar said.</p>.<p>"There are reports that 12 to 15 rounds of bullets were fired in a shootout between two groups in Nauranga village in Barh on the outskirts of Patna district. The matter is being investigated. Senior officials have reached the spot," the SSP told <em>PTI.</em></p>.Armed robbers shoots dead security guard in Bidar, loot Rs 93 lakh cash meant for ATM.<p>Upon receiving a call that the incident of firing took place in Nauranga village in the evening, a police team reached the spot and recovered three spent cartridges, Barh Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Rakesh Kumar told reporters.</p>.<p>Asked about details of the incident, the ASP said, "Conflicting versions are coming from the area. We are investigating these. A section of villagers claimed that initially some shots were fired, on the instructions of the former MLA, by his supporters." Some people claimed that there was an exchange of fire between the two groups, Kumar said.</p>.<p>"No one, including the former MLA, has been injured in the incident," the Barh ASP said.</p>.<p>The ASP, however, ruled out the possibility of a gang war, and said, "As claimed by villagers, one side fired in retaliation only. It does not appear to be a gang war".</p>.<p>A case is being registered on the basis of a complaint filed by a family which claimed that their house was targeted during the firing, he added.</p>.<p>Commenting on the incident, Singh told reporters that a group of poor people from Nauranga village met him and alleged that they were thrown out of their houses by some influential people, who also locked their residences.</p>.<p>"I went to the village in the evening and asked my supporters to open the locks. I also asked my people to call those who had forcibly locked the houses of poor people. When my men reached the home of Sonu-Monu (villagers), they were attacked. Supporters of Sonu-Monu started firing….and my men also retaliated," Singh said.</p>.<p>"One of my supporters has sustained a bullet injury”.</p>.<p>He is recuperating in the hospital, said the former MLA, adding, "Local police did not take action on the complaints filed by poor villagers in the area." Singh, the gangster-turned-politician, whose MLA wife crossed over from the opposition RJD to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), is also known as 'chhote sarkar'. He had represented the Mokama assembly seat several times.</p>.<p>The former legislator faced disqualification from the assembly after he was convicted in June 2020 in a case which was registered following the recovery of an AK-47 rifle, ammunition and two hand grenades from his ancestral residence two years earlier.</p>.<p>However, in August 2024, the Patna High Court acquitted Singh of the criminal charges of illegally possessing an AK-47 rifle along with other arms and directed the authorities to release him from jail.</p>
<p>Patna: Former Bihar MLA Anant Singh escaped unhurt following an exchange of fire between two groups in Patna on Wednesday, police said.</p>.<p>No casualty has been reported during the firing so far, Patna's Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Avkash Kumar said.</p>.<p>"There are reports that 12 to 15 rounds of bullets were fired in a shootout between two groups in Nauranga village in Barh on the outskirts of Patna district. The matter is being investigated. Senior officials have reached the spot," the SSP told <em>PTI.</em></p>.Armed robbers shoots dead security guard in Bidar, loot Rs 93 lakh cash meant for ATM.<p>Upon receiving a call that the incident of firing took place in Nauranga village in the evening, a police team reached the spot and recovered three spent cartridges, Barh Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Rakesh Kumar told reporters.</p>.<p>Asked about details of the incident, the ASP said, "Conflicting versions are coming from the area. We are investigating these. A section of villagers claimed that initially some shots were fired, on the instructions of the former MLA, by his supporters." Some people claimed that there was an exchange of fire between the two groups, Kumar said.</p>.<p>"No one, including the former MLA, has been injured in the incident," the Barh ASP said.</p>.<p>The ASP, however, ruled out the possibility of a gang war, and said, "As claimed by villagers, one side fired in retaliation only. It does not appear to be a gang war".</p>.<p>A case is being registered on the basis of a complaint filed by a family which claimed that their house was targeted during the firing, he added.</p>.<p>Commenting on the incident, Singh told reporters that a group of poor people from Nauranga village met him and alleged that they were thrown out of their houses by some influential people, who also locked their residences.</p>.<p>"I went to the village in the evening and asked my supporters to open the locks. I also asked my people to call those who had forcibly locked the houses of poor people. When my men reached the home of Sonu-Monu (villagers), they were attacked. Supporters of Sonu-Monu started firing….and my men also retaliated," Singh said.</p>.<p>"One of my supporters has sustained a bullet injury”.</p>.<p>He is recuperating in the hospital, said the former MLA, adding, "Local police did not take action on the complaints filed by poor villagers in the area." Singh, the gangster-turned-politician, whose MLA wife crossed over from the opposition RJD to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), is also known as 'chhote sarkar'. He had represented the Mokama assembly seat several times.</p>.<p>The former legislator faced disqualification from the assembly after he was convicted in June 2020 in a case which was registered following the recovery of an AK-47 rifle, ammunition and two hand grenades from his ancestral residence two years earlier.</p>.<p>However, in August 2024, the Patna High Court acquitted Singh of the criminal charges of illegally possessing an AK-47 rifle along with other arms and directed the authorities to release him from jail.</p>