The criminal Ashok Mahto gang, which was active in the Indian state

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

, was led by Ashok Mahto and included Pintu Mahto. Ashok Mahto and his gang were responsible for the 2005 killing of

Rajo Singh Rajo may refer to: * Rajo, Syria, a village in Syria * Rajo Jack (1905–1956), American race car driver * Rajo Singh (1928–2005), politician from Bihar, India * Rajo Motor and Manufacturing, a company that manufactured Model T cylinder heads ...

, a sitting

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

). Ashok Mahto was imprisoned but escaped from Nawada jail in 2002. Pintu Mahto killed three police officers during the prison breakout. The gang's leaders are said to belong to either the

Kurmi Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior tilla ...

Koeri The Koeri (spelt as Koiry or Koiri) and also referred to as Kushwaha and Maurya in several parts of North India are an Indian non-elite caste, found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According ...

caste, and were supported by the

backward castes The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...

in the

Nawada Nawada is a city and a municipality in Bihar, India. It is also the headquarters of the Nawada district. It is the headquarters of the subdivision of the same name, lying on both sides of the Khuri River( also known as Sakri river in some part ...

and

Sheikhpura Sheikhpura is a town and a municipality in Sheikhpura district in the Indian state of Bihar. Sheikhpura is also an administrative headquarter of Sheikhpura district. Postal code PIN code of Sheikhpura post office is 811105. Postal code for ...

regions. The Mahto gang was waging a war of retribution against the exploitative upper-caste

Bhumihar Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal. The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...

s. Mahto and his gang were responsible for the killings of a large number of Forward Caste people in the late 1990s.

Mahto-Singh rivalry

The rivalry between Mahto and gangster Akhilesh Singh affected over 100 villages in the

Nalanda Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India. Between 1998 and 2006, the rivalry, which claimed over 200 lives in Nawada district, stemmed from caste conflict between Bhumihars and Koeris. The clash between the two groups would decide power over stone-crushing and sand-lifting arrangements in the affected districts. In 2003, the Mahto gang allegedly killed the father of a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

(MLA)

Aruna Devi Aruna Devi is an Indian politician from Bharatiya Janata Party, Bihar who is currently Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly representing Warisaliganj (Vidhan Sabha constituency), Warisaliganj of Nawada district. She was elected as the Member of ...

– the wife of Akhilesh Singh – and five others, including a six-year-old boy. It was reported the killings were in retaliation for the deaths of seven labourers who were allegedly killed by the Akhilesh Singh gang. In 2000 they attacked the same MLA's house and killed over 12 people. The Mahto-Singh rivalry was a rivalry between two gangs for supremacy but a mobilisation of castes in support of each of these two gangs also took place. During the 2005 election, Aruna Devi, the wife of Akhilesh Singh, was a

Lok Janshakti Party The Lok Janshakti Party ( LJP, "People’s Manpower Party") was a state political party mainly based in the state of Bihar, India. The party was formed in 2000 when Ram Vilas Paswan split from Janata Dal. The party had a considerable followin ...

candidate for the region's legislative assembly. According to one of her supporters, the charges of murder and abduction upon Akhilesh Singh were frivolous and he had taken up arms to fight for the honour of his community, the Bhumihars. Ashok Mahto and his men were said to have taken over the responsibility for protecting the rights of the suppressed Koeri community and as other Backward Castes. Aruna Devi faced opposition from

Pradeep Mahto Pradeep Mahto alias Pradeep Kumar is a former Member of Legislative Assembly for the year 2005 and 2010 from the Warisaliganj (Vidhan Sabha constituency) of the Nawada region of Bihar. Mahto is a nephew and former associate of Ashok Mahto, the ...

, the nephew of Ashok Mahto, who also had several charges against him. Ashok Mahto was also responsible for killing a large number of upper-caste people in the area. According to some of the inhabitants of Warsaliganj and Afsar, the Mahto gang had enforced sanctions upon Bhumihars to use a particular road in their area of influence. As per their description, the Bhumihar people, if found using that road for travelling to their destinations, were severely punished by Mahto gang.

Arrests and trial

The Ashok Mahto gang consisted of gangsters such as Pintu Mahto, who was charged with nearly thirty murders and kidnappings, including the murder of three police officers and Congress politician

. Pintu Mahto was responsible for the Ashok Mahto gang in

Warisaliganj Warisaliganj is a town and a nagar parishad in Nawada district in the Indian state of Bihar. History Warisaliganj, to the north of Nawada, was founded by Waris Ali khan, brother of Kamgar khan in Mayi family. Geography Warisaliganj is locat ...

and

, Nawada district. The Mahto gang also included Sharda Yadav, who was convicted of the massacre of 11 upper-caste people at the village Apshar, and of looting and abduction. Yadav was arrested with nine other aides in 2003. "Ariyari" Police also got success in arresting Bacchu Mahto, the sharpshooter of Mahto gang. Mahto was arrested in 2006, while he was travelling to court; Bihar Police Special Authority Police (SAP) officers carried out a procession in which Mahto, half-naked and bleeding, was dressed in garland of slippers. This incident proved controversial and the region's backward castes saw it as a punishment to the gangster for opposing Bhumihars. Mahto enjoyed considerable support among the

backward classes The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...

; his public humiliation prompted questions such as; "Can the police humiliate an upper-caste gangster in a similar manner?" After his attendance in the court, Superintendent of Police

Amit Lodha Amit Lodha (Hindi: अमित लोढ़ा) (born 22 February 1974) is a 1998 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Bihar Cadre, currently under suspension. He is known for his book '' Bihar Diaries: The True Story of How Bihar's Most ...

said Mahto had admitted his involvement in the murder of

. Mahto, however, spoke about his links with JD(U) leader Rajeev Ranjan Singh and his close ties with

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unite ...

. The court and the police did not take these claims seriously. The opposition

Rashtriya Janata Dal The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: ''National People's Party'') is an Indian political party, based in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has tradit ...

and Lok Janshakti Party pressed for a CBI enquiry in the issue and asked Lalan Singh to resign. The Chief Minister came under pressure from the opposition. In 2013, a court in Sheikhpura cleared Ashok Mahto, Shambhu Yadav and Anil Mahto of the murder of Rajo Singh. The plaintiffs were convicted for the murder of the erstwhile Congress leader of Sheikhpura but were cleared in the absence of evidence. , Ashok Mahto is incarcerated in Nawada jail. In 2022, Pintu Mahto was also acquitted in Rajo Singh murder case. As per some news reports, after being acquitted in the cases, Pintu Mahto later joined active politics and became a member of

Janata Dal (United) Janata Dal (United) ("People’s Party (United)”) abbreviated as JD(U) is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar , Arunachal Pra ...

. His wife also contested elections to Bihar Assembly. In 2022, Sudarshan Singh, the grandson of Rajo Singh and the JDU's Member of legislative assembly admitted in the court that he doesn't want to carry the case further. Singh was main complainant in the Rajo Singh case. He had named 11 persons including

Ashok Choudhary Ashok Choudhary is an Indian politician from Barbigha Sheikhpura in Bihar, India. He has been a Member of the Bihar Legislative Council since 2014. Since June 2019, he is the Cabinet Minister for the Building Construction Department in the go ...

, Randhir Kumar Soni (former Sheikhpura MLA), gangster Ashok Mahto, RJD leader Lattu Yadav and Muneshwar Yadav as the accused in the murder of Rajo Singh. In June, same year, a court of Sheikhpura finally acquitted all the accused of the case due to lack of evidence.

Significant incidents of violence

Manikpur killings

In a retaliatory action in Manikpur village,

Sheikhpura district Sheikhpura district is one of the thirty-eight districts of the Indian state of Bihar. Sheikhpura is the administrative headquarter of this district. Sheikhpura district is a part of the Munger division. Sheikhpura was split from the Munger dist ...

, Bihar, the Mahto gang shot seven people. Media reports stated that the incident was revenge for the earlier killings of four people in same village. According to sources, these clashes led to murders of 16 people in the region. The gang wars between Akhilesh Singh and Ashok Mahto were the cause of these attacks and counter-attacks.

2003 Mahadipur-Jhour Mor killings

In 2003, in the Dariapur-Paschim tola of Nawada district, seven

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

s who were supporters of Ashok Mahto were allegedly killed by Mahto's rivals. In response to these killings, Kurmis killed five

s in Mahadipur-Jhour Mor, which is in the Warisaliganj police-station zone.

Accusation in accident of Sheikhpura MLA

In 2012, contemporary Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly from Sheikhpura assembly constituency, Randhir Kumar Soni and contemporary

Superintendent of police Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories ...

Sheikhpura, Anusiya Ransingh Sahu accused that the Mahto gang was responsible for plotting the murder of the MLA in an accident. In this incident, it was reported that JDU MLA Randhir Kumar Soni was the target of Mahto gang, which plotted Bomb near his ancestral home, with a motive to kill the MLA. In connection with this case, in 2023, Ashok Mahto was admitted before a court in Sheikhpura, where he and another accused of his gang Abhijit Kumar denied the allegations again them. It was also reported that within the premise of court, a strong mob of people gathered in order to see Mahto, which was diffused by police using extra force.

Assassination of Block Development Officer

Mahto and his gang members were also accused in murder of Block Development Officer of Ariyari Block, Ashok Raj Vats in Sheikhpura in 2004. In 2022, the court acquitted Pintu Mahto in this case due to lack of evidence. Another court had earlier acquitted other accused too, which included the colleague of the officer, Raghuvir Mandal, who was made an accused after investigation began.

In popular culture

In 2018, Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Amit Lodha, who was posted in

during the time of the arrest of Pintu Mahto, wrote a book tiled "Bihar Diaries"; although the book does not name him, media reports match the story to the life of Pintu Mahto. In 2022, a

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

web series named Khakee: The Bihar Chapter portrayed the story of Pintu Mahto, the sharpshooter of Ashok Mahto gang, which led to controversies, as Bihar government reportedly filed a suit against IPS Amit Lodha for misusing his position and indulging in corrupt practices. Following which, Lodha was suspended for his commercial deal with Netflix, while being an incumbent government officer. According to senior journalist Kanhaiya Bhelari, the unease in the ruling dispensation of Bihar was caused because of the portrayal of Mahtos as the villains in the web series. According to the reports, they are considered as heroes in many quarters of the state, as they are reported to have avenged deaths of many backward castes in the region of their influence in course of their war against the upper castes. Pintu Mahto, on whose life the web series is said to be based, also alleged IPS Lodha for defaming him and a particular community. In 2023, in a meeting of a body called "Kurmi Mahapanchayat" in Warlisganj, which was attended by local leaders and some of the members of Zila Parishad, a call for release of Ashok Mahto was made. The attendants decided to initiate a processing in this regard up to the level of Member of Legislative Assemblies and higher echelon of government. In February 2023, some newspaper reports also claimed that the release of Ashok Mahto was supported by former Union Minister

Upendra Kushwaha Upendra Singh Kushwaha (born 6 February 1960) is an Indian politician and Member of Legislative Council of Bihar assembly. He was the former Minister of State for Human Resources and Development in the Government of India. He is former MP fro ...

, who sought relaxation provided to other criminals under the rule of

Parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

as reason to extend support to the idea of acquittal of Mahto.

Later

Ashok Mahto was released from prison in 2023 after serving imprisonment of 17 years. In 2024, he married Anita Devi in an inter-caste marriage as he was promised by

leadership that he will get the party symbol to contest from Munger Lok Sabha constituency in 2024 Indian General Elections. Subsequently,

Lalu Prasad Yadav Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former List of Chief Ministers of Bihar, Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Ministry of Railways (India), Railway ...

fielded his wife Anita Devi from Munger constituency against

Lalan Singh Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh (born 24 January 1955) is an Indian politician and Member of Parliament representing Munger in the 17th Lok Sabha from Janata Dal (United). He is National party president of JDU (Janta Dal United). He was ...

in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

References

{{Organised crime in India Organised crime groups in India Criminals from Bihar