Sheohar, Bihar
FIR Nos. 12/91, Madhepura PS; 405/94, Muzaffarpur PS
Charges: murder, criminal conspiracy (IPC 302, 120-b)
The MP has had over 50 cases registered against him during the last two decades, ranging from murder, kidnapping and possession of unlicensed arms and to charges under the National Security Act (NSA), Crime Control Act and MISA. He considers himself a modern-day Robin Hood and the people of Saharsa are inclined to agree. Anand Mohan is on record saying that he is the only upper-caste leader in the state who has the guts to oppose Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav.
In the late 1970s, Mohan formed the Kranti Dal in protest against the reservation policy introduced by the Karpoori Thakur government in Bihar. He achieved a measure of fame by killing a rapist, who was convalescing in hospital. His next big break came with the anti-reservation agitation of 1990-91, when he cemented his popularity among the upper castes by countering the terror unleashed against Rajputs and Brahmins by Pappu Yadav in the Kosi riverine area.
During the 1991 general elections, he was named as the main accused in the murder of Raj Kumari Chowdhary, the flamboyant independent candidate from Madhepura known for her tomboyish style. Prior to his 1996 electoral victory, he was charged with the murder of Gopalganj district magistrate Krishnaiah in December 1994. The FIR quotes eyewitnesses as saying that "Anand Mohan was seen leading a mob and exhorting his followers to lynch the official". The Samata Party MP was arrested and did most of his poll canvassing while in jail and claims that the cases lodged against him are "politically motivated" because he fights "terrorist forces".
The don regards former prime minister Chandra Shekhar as his political mentor. In Patna, the rumour-mill has it that Anand Mohan has been able to survive the backward caste mobilisation against him, thanks largely to Chandra Shekhar's personal intercession with Laloo Yadav. The election of the don's wife, Lovely Anand, in the byelection to the 10th Lok Sabha from an affluent upper-caste dominated Vaishali was seen as a smack in the face for Laloo.
