After playing hide-and-seek with the UP police for a year over his alleged role in the murder of former Mau block pramukh Ajit Singh in Lucknow in January 6 last year, gangster-turned-politician Dhananjay Singh on Wednesday filed his nomination from the Malhani Assembly seat in Jaunpur on the Janata Dal (United) ticket.
After finding Dhananjay’s alleged involvement in Ajit murder case, the Lucknow police had obtained an arrest warrant against him in February last year.
A day after police announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for his arrest in March last year, Dhananjay surrendered in an Allahabad court in a 2017 case lodged against him in Jaunpur and went to jail. The Lucknow police had then not filed the warrant against him in the court.
After coming out of the jail on bail after 25 days, Dhananjay helped his wife Srikala Reddy win Zila Panchayat president election from Jaunpur. In July, a Lucknow court declared him a proclaimed absconder.
On January 6, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav shared a purported video of Dhananjay in which he was seen playing cricket amid many people. Taking a dig at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Akhilesh tweeted, “BJP’s work: Criminals roam free. Baba ji, make a list of the top ten of your closest mafia and then make a team. Like the IPL, you should start an ‘MBL’ meaning ‘Mafia BJP league’. The city police chief has already laid out the pitch for him, and he is the captain. This completes the eleven.”
