An incident of gruesome killings, has once against brought the city of Dhanbad in the news. This time former Deputy Mayor of Dhanbad and his men have been killed amidst a power-struggle between two brothers.
The shocking incident has brought back the memories of Anurag Kashyap’s 2012 film Gangs of Wasseypur. Do you remember the character of Ramadhir Singh (originally Surya Deo Singh) portrayed by Tigmanshu Dhulia? This real life murder is connected to his family.
On March 21, Neeraj Singh, the nephew of late Surya Deo Singh was killed by some unidentified men near the city’s Steel Gate area under the Saraidhela police station.
The injured were rushed to Dhanbad’s central hospital where they died during the treatment. Neeraj is believed to have sustained at least 50 bullet injuries, which were reportedly fired from AK-47 guns.
The incident is being viewed as a part of bitter and violent family rivalry between BJP’s Jharia MLA Sanjeev Singh and his cousin Neeraj Singh, son of Rajan Singh, one of Surya Deo Singh’s brothers.
Remember Ramadhir Singh’s son- MLA JP Singh? In real life he is Sanjeev Singh, who is a legislator from the saffron party.
Surya Deo is still considered the ‘King of Dhanbad’ even after his death and his family, which still lives in Dhanbad, is recognized by locals as the ‘first family of the coal city’.
The entire story of the Gangs of Wasseypur (part I and II) revolves around Singh’s family and the Singh mansion. As depicted in the movie, the power- struggle still continues, however, this time the struggle is within the Singh family and not with ‘Faizal Khan’ (the character played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui).
From controlling illegal activities in the coal business to spreading a reign of terror in Dhanbad and its surrounding areas for decades, the dreaded Singh clan, allegedly involved in several murders, is now fighting among themselves.
In 2014, Neeraj Singh had even contested an assembly election against his cousin, however, he lost. The rivalry between the cousins wasn’t limited to the political arena. They had differences over business dealings, ancestral property and controlling Janta Mazdoor Sangh, a trade union started by Surya Deo Singh that plays a major role in the coal belt.
In January this year, Ranjay Singh, a close aide of Sanjeev Singh, was also shot dead. Sanjeev had alleged that Neeraj was behind the killing.
Now after Neeraj’s murder, it is being alleged that his brother Sanjeev is the mastermind behind this murder. Before becoming a politician, Neeraj did his engineering from a reputed college in Agra.
He was returning home along with his driver and two aides when motorcycle-borne assailants fired at least 50 rounds of bullets, injuring Singh and his driver, police said.
As soon as the vehicle slowed down due to speed breakers, gunmen opened indiscriminate firing at Singh’s SUV. The shooting was carried out with AK-47. The police recovered at least 50 AK-47 bullet shells from the crime spot.
Situation remains tense in Dhanbad and the police has launched a manhunt to nab the assailants at the earliest.
