Move over Ranveer Sena. Here we come. That is what the "Fighter Group", a private army reportedly formed by Minister of State for Transport in Bihar Rajesh Singh, seems to be saying. Representing Dhanaha assembly constituency in West Champaran district on the Bihar-Uttar Pradesh border, the minister is believed to have raised a 40-member army for fighting criminals and booth grabbers who have been "harassing" him and villagers of the area for over a decade.

It is learnt that all members of the controversial outfit are equipped with modern and sophisticated weapons. Dressed in blue tracks, they regularly undergo training in the verdant Gandak riverine belt and can take on criminals at short notices.

The revelation has stunned the police. S.K. Bharadwaj, DIG of the Champaran range, has ordered a probe into the matter although IG Neelamani at the police headquarters in Patna said, "We are not aware of the private army."

Private army or self-defence group, the trend to raise such units in the state seems to be on the rise after politicians like Ramlakhan Singh Yadav reportedly set a precedent. The Rabri Devi Government has instituted a commission to inquire into the relationship between politicians and the protectors of such private armies. Meanwhile, RJD her husband and RJB supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav has alleged that there are many others like Dr C. P. Thakur and Janardan Sharma who are protectors of private armies like the Ranveer Sena, a dreaded outfit of the upper castes.

Back to Rajesh Singh, the minister is surprised. "This is not a private army but just a self-defence group formed on the lines of the gram rakcha dal (village security squad)," he says, adding that it has members drawn from 80 villages having affiliations to different political parties.

A determined 33-year-old, the mustachioed Rajput politician had fallen victim to abductors when he was just 14 years old. Ever since, he has wanted to strike back and make Dhanaha, the assembly segment he represents, a "crime-free zone". "Since 1996, no dacoity has taken place in Dhanaha and the related gangs, who committed three or four kidnappings for ransom during the past four years, were finished by the police with the help of the villagers," he claims.

Tradotionally, Dhanaha is known for its kabaddi players and wrestlers. They have now been turned into trigger-fit units to counter the mafiosis which has held parallel reins of governance in the Bagaha police district area since the early 1980s. A boxer himself and graduate from Gorakhpur University, Rajesh SIngh even fought the elections on the three-G plank-"Gundas, Ganna aur Gandak". He worked out a scheme under which villagers could provide intelligence inputs to the local police as well as the district administration. They would also have to patrol villages in the nights and, if need be, use force against criminals.

The issue has provided the Opposition a handy stick to beat the Rabri Devi Government with. They have been quick to link the minister's move to the string of allegations about a breakdown in law and order in the state. Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Upendra Kushwaha of the Janata Dal (United) said, "Whatever the minister calls his private army, his raising such an outfit is a clear indication that even ministers have no faith in the state police."

The Congress, which is a major ally of the RJD, is also stunned. "The Government and other political parties should also sit and discuss the current development, said one party leader. Expressing concern, CPI state secretary Jalaluddin Ansari too has reacted sharply saying it is nothing but a move to "terrorise people during elections."

In Dhanaha, however, the "heroic" deeds of Singh, have paid him rich dividends. He got elected to the year 2000 Assembly on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket on the strength of his anti-crime stance. Now in the RJD, he has initiated what he calls a "jagrukta abhiyan" or awareness campaign. Observers and political pandits say it is an endeavour to reactivate the citizens' militia with assembly polls round the corner. Reports say the kin of ganglords Basudeo Yadav and Bhangar Yadav plan to contest his Dhanaha seat. The outcome, without doubt, would be a significant statement.

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