Bihar polls: Wanted criminal Bittu Singh's brother shot dead near polling booth in Purnia

The 30-year-old Beni Singh was shot dead at Sarsi village in Dhamdaha assembly constituency

The three-phase Bihar Assembly election came to an end on Saturday with around 56 per cent of voters exercising their franchise. Polling in the last phase was, by and large, peaceful with some reports of minor clashes between the voters and security personnel at few polling booths in Saharsa and Supaul.

One person was shot dead in Purnia when he was on way to cast his vote at Dhamdaha Assembly constituency. He was identified as Binny Singh, younger brother of a gangster Bittu Singh.

The family members have alleged the killing took place at the behest of former MLA and JD (U) candidate Lesi Singh. Incidentally, Dhamdaha is the same constituency from where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave his last election speech on Thursday and called it his “last election”.

Coincidentally, Lesi Singh’s husband Butan Singh, a known gangster, was shot dead when he was in judicial custody and was being produced in the court two decades back. Today’s killing could possibly be a fallout of the previous enmity.

NO LINK WITH POLL

The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar, HR Srinivasan, however, said the killing in Purnia is not related to the Bihar election. “We have sought a detailed report from the Purnia SP in this matter,” said the CEO.

Elsewhere, in Muzaffarpur, a polling officer Kedar Rai died of a heart attack while on duty. His body has been sent to Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH).

With today’s election, the three-phase Bihar Assembly poll is over. Bihar will go into the annals of history as the first State where an election was held amid the Covid-19 pandemic, without any major casualty.

All eyes will now be on November 10, when the results for the 243 Assembly seats will be declared by Tuesday late night.

It will be interesting to see whether Nitish Kumar, who has been either a Union Minister or a Chief Minister for the last 31 years, gets a straight fourth term, or is upstaged by a 31-year-old Tejashwi Yadav, who, single-handedly, made the battle of Bihar a fierce fight even in the absence of his father Lalu Prasad.