Bihar's list of prisoners to be freed includes a dead man

Another prisoner, Ramadhar Ram, could not be released since he was yet to pay a fine ordered by the court, a jail superintendent told reporters

One of the prisoners in Bihar, whose release was recently ordered by the state government on the ground of their having spent more than 14 years in jail, had died several months ago, an official said on Wednesday.

The goof-up was revealed by Rajiv Kumar, the Superintendent of the open jail at Buxar where five of the inmates were ordered to be set free vide a notification of the state law department dated April 24.

"The list included the name of Patiram Rai, aged 93 years, whose release could not materialize since he had died in November last year," the jail superintendent told reporters.

He also said another prisoner, Ramadhar Ram, could not be released since he was yet to pay a fine ordered by the court.

"Ramadhir Ram's family has been informed about the order of release. He will be set free as soon as the family members deposit the fine amount before the court concerned," added the official.

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Three other inmates, Raj Ballabh Yadav, Kishan Dev Rai and Jitendra Singh, were released in accordance with the government order, said the jail superintendent.

The opposition BJP in the state, which has been miffed over the fact a majority of the 27 prisoners named in the list belonged to Yadav and Muslim communities, known to be supporters of the ruling RJD, targeted the Nitish Kumar government over the goof-up, using the Hindi adage "Andher Nagri Chaupat Raja" (lawless land, ruled by an inept king).

"Bihar has in the past been witness of transfer orders of dead employees…….now in the order to release 27 prisoners figures the name of a Dalit prisoner. Wish the Dalit had got justice in his lifetime," tweeted state BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand.

Anand is also the national general secretary of the BJP OBC Morcha and his underscoring of the deceased prisoner's "Dalit" identity is in line with the party raising a stink over release of former MP Anand Mohan, who was convicted for the murder of an IAS officer, who incidentally belonged to the Scheduled Caste.

Mohan, who had been out on parole to attend the engagement of his son in Patna, has left for Saharsa to surrender before the jail authorities there so that formalities for his release, under the aforementioned order, could be completed.

Mohan however refused to respond to the opposition to his release by the slain bureaucrat's wife and the IAS officers' association.

"I offer my salutations (pranam) to all people, be it Krishnaiah's wife or the IAS officers' association. I do not want to speak anything at this moment. I will say whatever I have to say when I come out," Mohan told reporters in Patna before leaving for Saharsa.

Mohan had been accused of leading a mob that lynched Krishnaiah in 1994 on the outskirts of Muzaffarpur. The former MP and his family members, however, maintain that he had been "framed" in the case.

Known to be fairly popular among the Rajputs of Bihar, Mohan seems to have left the BJP a divided house.

Leaders like Nikhil Anand, former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Amit Malaviya have been unequivocal in their criticism of the order to let off Mohan, whose "conviction had been upheld by the Supreme Court".

However, more than one upper caste BJP leader in Bihar, including Union minister Giriraj Singh, Saran MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy and former minister Neeraj Kumar Singh Bablu have taken a divergent view and asserted that they had objections against "many other criminals being set free".