The letter seen by ThePrint said that Mahto and his trade union aides “blocked their (the Russian specialists’) cars at the entrance gates to the sites, did not let the specialists into their offices, threatened Indian personnel of the company’s subcontractor.”
“The demands of monthly payment of a certain amount of money in favour of Mr. Dhullu Mahto and giving employment to 40 of his people were also put forward,” the letter added.
When the Russian company raised Mahto’s extortion attempts with the BCCL, the Indian company provided short-term security to its on-site specialists. However, it did not improve the situation much, forcing Bashkirova to write the letter.
Mahto, at the time, described the allegations as baseless and politically motivated. The Opposition in Jharkhand reportedly demanded his arrest for extortion. A month later, the Dhanbad district police said that it would step up the security of the Russian company, according to a Hindustan Times report from 2016.
In the battle for supremacy over the coal belt in Dhanbad, Mahto’s name appears most prominently. Over the years, he has had over 50 FIRs, involving provisions of extortion, murder attempt, arms and explosives use, and assault of government employees, registered against him.
The earliest FIR against Mahto dates back to March 1997 under IPC provisions of rioting and attempted murder, among other things. Since then, he has had an FIR registered nearly every year against him.
Mahto replaced sitting BJP MP Pashupatinath Singh, who will turn 75 next year. Analysts credit this development to Mahto’s clout, money, and muscle power in Dhanbad.
Mahto’s political career began in 2009 when he, as the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) candidate, won the Baghmara Vidhan Sabha seat. He had switched to the BJP by the next elections, winning as the party’s candidate from Baghmara in 2014 and again in 2019. Baghmara, which has at least 4 out of the 12 BCCL mining areas, has remained Mahto’s turf so far.
However, with his power and influence in the area, the number of cases and allegations against him have also skyrocketed over time. The allegations in the FIRs against him reveal a familiar pattern of Dhanbad politics shadowed by crime.
Also read: Shibu Soren is sitting this election out, but ‘Guruji’s’ shadow looms large over Jharkhand politics
The ‘OG’ mafia
It was the 1980s.
In Dhanbad, Suryadeo Singh had established himself as the uncontested leader of the black diamond city, ruling it with muscle and money. This is when some men from Wasseypur allegedly kidnapped a Brahmin woman from Dhanbad village. Her father ran from pillar to post but to no avail.
He then went to Singh, pleading for his daughter’s life.
“Suryadeo Singh set off to Wasseypur right away with his men, parked his car there, and warned them that if the girl isn’t returned within 24 hours, Wasseypur would be reduced to a cemetery,” lawyer and social activist Bijay Jha recalled, speaking with ThePrint.
Legend has it that the woman returned home within a few hours, added Jha.
Residents of Dhanbad have passed down this tale for generations now, recounting the reign of Suryadeo Singh — the foremost, or, as the GenZ would say it, the ‘OG’, mafia in the city. He was ‘Robin Hood’ and a kangaroo court, all rolled into one towering figure whose shadow lingers on in Dhanbad.
Singh’s story is one for the big screen, and it did make it to the screen in Gangs of Wasseypur, in which Singh is believed to be the inspiration behind Ramadhir Singh’s character.
Suryadeo originally hailed from Baliya in Bihar and came to Dhanbad searching for a job. He soon found his calling in the coal mines under Indian National Trade Union Congress leader B.P. Sinha, widely known for his mafia-style activities before his murder in 1979.
Suryadeo took no time in replacing Sinha and emerged as the don of Dhanbad while also becoming a suspect in Sinha’s murder. He was the trade union leader, who controlled the area’s coal business and the Janata Dal MLA from Jharia in united Bihar. He held the seat from 1977 to 1991 when he died.
Singh Mansion and Raghukul
Even after Suryadeo’s death, the Singhs remain a politically influential family in the area.
In 1999, one of Suryadeo’s five brothers, Bachcha Singh, won the Jharia seat, one of six assembly segments under the Dhanbad Lok Sabha constituency. In 2004, Suryadeo’s wife, Kunti Singh, laid claim to the seat for the family.
However, infighting within the family has kept it busy over the years. Suryadeo’s family still lives in the palatial bungalow, Singh Mansion, built by Suryadeo in the heart of Dhanbad. The families of two of Suryadeo’s brothers live in Raghukul, another palatial mansion roughly a kilometre away from Singh Mansion.
Kunti held on to the Jhariaseat until 2014 when her son Sanjeev Singh won the seat on a BJP ticket against cousin Neeraj Singh, the Congress candidate. Neeraj, the son of Suryadeo Singh’s brother, Raj Narain Singh, was subsequently murdered in Dhanbad in 2017.
According to a Hindustan Times report, Neeraj was shot dead, with67 bullets pumped into him. Sanjeev was named as an accused in the murder and is currently in jail.
With the Singh brothers in jail, the daughters-in-law took forward the baton during the 2019 elections. Ragini Singh, Sanjeev’s wife, was the BJP candidate from Jharia, while Neeraj’s wife, Purnima Singh, was the Congress candidate. The people’s mandate went to Purnima Singh, the current Jharia MLA.
However, both families have remained prominent in Dhanbad’s political milieu despite the emergence of newer faces like Dhullu Mahto. Ragini Singh is now campaigning for the BJP, urging people to vote for Mahto to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s position at the Centre.
Also read: Sita vs Kalpana — Jharkhand is witnessing battle of Soren daughters-in-law this poll season
‘A version of the mafia’
In this Lok Sabha election in Dhanbad, Mahto is facing off not only with Anupama Singh but also several residents such as 20-year-old Suniti Mahto, who was in Class 10 during her first brush with Mahto.
Suniti told ThePrint that her family donated a part of their land in 2019 for the Ram Raj Mandir, which Mahto built in a village in Baghmara in Dhanbad. However, she alleged that since then, Mahto has interfered in their peaceful possession of the remaining land near the temple, where her family has set up an idli stall.
While Mahto reportedly blamed his political adverseries for stoking this controversy and claimed he has documents proving his right over the land, the family has since sat on at least two hunger strikes in Dhanbad to demand action against Mahto for harassment and to be allowed to run their shop on the land without interference.
“The system was in his favour at every step, but we know that we can’t stop fighting,” Suniti told ThePrint, breaking down.
While Mahto has now been rallying for votes in Dhanbad, Suniti has also been going around, sharing her family’s ordeal and asking people to be careful about who they vote for.
Several prominent Dhanbad residents who have also raised their complaints against Mahto’s candidature alleged pushback from the Baghmara MLA.
In a letter to BJP state chief Babulal Marandi 28 March, Dhanbad Marwari Sammelan district president Krishna Agarwal urged the party to reconsider its Dhanbad candidate.
The letter, seen by ThePrint, said, “While speaking against the mafia, he has himself become a version of the mafia.”
Agarwal alleged that Mahto then threatened him, which made him file an FIR against the BJP candidate.
On Wednesday, Vidyasagar Giri, national vice president of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), in a letter to the Jharkhand DGP and electoral authorities in the state, also alleged that Mahto had threatened him over a call.
The complaint, seen by ThePrint, alleged that Mahto threatened Giri over a call, saying he would “see him after the elections” since the AITUC has thrown their support behind the INDIA bloc. United Coal Workers Union, run by Mahato, is also affiliated with AITUC.
“My family is terrorised, owing to Dhullu Mahto’s criminal image,” alleged Giri.
The BJP, on the other hand, has shown faith in Mahto, saying “the party believes that there will be no adverse outcome against the alleged accused” in the cases pending against him.
The statement was a part of format C-7 under which political parties publish information in newspapers, social platforms, and the party website if they select candidates with cases pending against them. About Mahto, the BJP had made the publication in The Pioneer’s 20 April edition, among other papers. In The Pioneer, the party acknowledged that Mahto has 19 cases pending against him.
However, the BJP has justified his candidature, claiming that as a dedicated party worker, Mahto “had an edge over other individuals, considering the fact that whatever charges were alleged in the FIR and chargesheet have no substance and were purely with a vindictive approach and personal vendetta being waged by his political enemies”.
Also read: ‘Deshbhakt’ from Army family, warrior in her own right — who is Kalpana Soren
‘Don’t recognise any court kacheri’
Meanwhile, the cases against Mahto reveal repeated charges of extortion and violence by him and his aides.
Apart from the pending cases, Mahto has also been convicted by the trial courts in at least four cases. One of these cases dates back to 2005, two date back to 2006, and the most recent conviction dates back to 2013.
His latest conviction came in October 2019 in a 2013 case filed during his first term as MLA. Mahto was accused of snatching away extortion-accused Rajesh Gupta from the police.
According to court orders seen by ThePrint, when the police came to arrest Gupta, Mahto surrounded the police vehicle, along with at least 40 others. He then demanded a warrant from the police personnel and on seeing it, he allegedly retorted that he didn’t recognise any “court kacheri”. The mob proceeded to attack the police, assault police officers, tried to snatch away the pistol from one of the officers, and also tore the uniform of a constable.
While the case was sub judice, Mahto was in jail for 11 months, from July 2013 to June 2014, before being released on bail. However, court orders of the last 10 years in this case revealed Mahto’s grip over not only law enforcement agencies but also government functionaries such as jail officials.
For instance, in 2013, when Mahto was in judicial custody, he was sent to AIIMS, New Delhi, for requiring medical attention. However, after examining all the material before it, the Jharkhand High Court noted in a November 2013 order that Mahto did not suffer from any serious ailments and was “seen drinking and partying” in Delhi.
The court was then of the prima facie opinion that “the government officials including, the doctors and jail authorities, colluded with the applicant (Mahto)…and tried to mislead the court”.
A trial court convicted Mahto in the case in October 2019, a judgment upheld by the sessions court in August 2022.
In December 2022, the Jharkhand High Court, while rejecting his application for exemption from surrendering in the case, emphasised that Mahto was a sitting MLA at the time of the incident.
“The conduct of the petitioner does not appear to be satisfactory as the petitioner being an MLA, instead of protecting the rule of law and order, has attacked the police party with the help of some anti-social elements,” it observed.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also read: Can legality of arrest be examined when trial court has taken note of ED chargesheet, SC asks Soren