The muscleman whom a mob snatched out of police station

Purnea Police said they are probing if Bharti had any role in helping Awadhesh escape, and also the possible role of the JD(U)’s Purnea MP Santosh Kushwaha. The evening of the escape, Kushwaha and Bima Bharti had both visited the police station with their supporters in over 50 cars. Witnesses have reportedly told police they saw Mandal escape in his MLA wife’s vehicle.

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Amid the embarrassment this caused the government, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told reporters: “No indiscipline in the party of any kind be tolerated… The party has taken note of party leaders’ role in freeing Awadhesh from the police station; a code of conduct is in place for MPs and MLAs.”

Awadhesh had been arrested on January 17 for threatening a woman who was scheduled to testify against him in a case involving the murder of her husband 10 years earlier. After the mob freed him that very night, Purnea police set up three teams to track him down. They rearrested him on January 19.

His clout “Awadhesh is a very obstinate person; it can be very difficult to extract any information out of him even when police thrash him,” confided an IPS officer who had served as SP in Purnea. “He shows no emotion and carries the air of someone who has done nothing.” When police rearrested Awadhesh and presented him before journalists, he looked unruffled as ever.

Awadhesh, 42, hails from Bhitta village in Rupauli assembly constituency. The 46 cases he faces include some of murder and kidnapping and many under the Arms Act. The first case was filed in 1997, and a murder case in Chausa in 1998. Besides Rupauli in Bhawanipur, he faces cases in Phalka in Katihar. Though Purnea police claim to have had strong cases against him since 1997, the they have never won a conviction.

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He wields his influence in Rupauli and adjoining regions of Purnea, especially among EBC Mandals. He could not, however, wrangle a ministerial berth for his wife given that the JD(U) had to share power with the RJD. Bharti has served as minister earlier.

The victory of Bima Bharti in 2015 — she was sitting MLA — came at a time the district police had externed Awadhesh during the elections. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he is seen as having helped consolidate the votes of Mandals and other EBCs for Santosh Kushwaha, who defeated sitting BJP MP Uday Singh. It was one of the only two seats the JD(U) won in that election.

Awadhesh himself has put his personal political ambitions on hold because of pending criminal cases. He did contest the 2011 panchayat elections and has been block pramukh in Bhawanipur.

The murder Awadhesh gained notoriety in 2005 following the murder of Chanchal Paswan, a land broker who allegedly worked for his rival Shanker Singh — formerly known as a Rajput gang leader who formed North Ihar Liberation Army, later a politician who became an MLA. Singh’s wife Sunita Devi, incidentally, is now district board chairperson.

It was Chanchal’s wife whom Awadhesh allegedly threatened, leading to his arrest. On January 17, when Sonia Devi, 60, and her son Vijay Paswan, 32, were in their thatched, tin-roofed house at New Sipahi Tola in Purnea, a group allegedly led by Awadhesh reached their home and threatened them not to testify in the murder case, being heard by an additional district judge’s court.

“Awadhesh said we would face dire consequences if we stood witness against them,” Sonia Devi said. “Awadhesh and his men avoided the main road when they came because they didn’t want to be seen by too many people. But neighbours came to our help and got them arrested.”

She said her family had been getting threats from Awadhesh. “Ever since I lost my husband, my family has been under threat. But there is no questioning of giving in,” said Sonia, who has now got police cover.

Sadar subdivisional police officer Rajkumar Sah, who has been monitoring Sonia Devi’s security, led one of the three raid teams that rearrested Awadhesh from Navgachhia in Bhagalpur. Days earlier, the officer had been issued a showcause notice because of the escape.

Vijay Paswan does odd jobs to support a family of six, who own a house on about 1,300 sq ft. Although Awadhesh is back behind bars, the Paswan family remains fearful of a counterattack.

Chanchal, 58 when murdered, used to buy and sell land at Bhitta, Awadhesh’s ancestral village. He and Awadhesh were allegedly claiming ownership of the same plot of land, measuring 1½ acres. Chanchal was kidnapped on his way to the plot one day and later murdered. Police said Chanchal used to work for the Shanker Singh gang, associated with upper castes. Awadhesh, whom police associate with the Faizan gang, had often clashed with members of the Shanker Singh gang over land.

“The late 1990s and early 2000s saw several clashes among gangs, which operated on caste lines. Awadhesh is a product of the resistance to upper caste dominance,” said a police officer.

Purnea SP Nishant Kumar Tiwary said: “Our first task was to rearrest Awadhesh Mandal. We have ensured security cover to the Paswan family, who will bear witness in the Chanchal Paswan murder case. Maranga police and an SDPO have been given special instructions to take care of the security of Sonia Devi’s family.”