30 years on, Bihar politician convicted for murder during 1990 booth capture

Ravindra Nath Mishra was one of the 22 candidates to have contested the election from the Manjhi assembly seat on February 27, 1990

PATNA: A special court on Tuesday convicted former Bihar minister Ravindra Nath Mishra in connection with the death of a man during an attempt to take control of a polling station during the 1990 assembly election in Bihar’s Saran district.

Ravindra Nath Mishra contested the election as an Independent and secured 9.75% vote share (File Photo)

Ravindra Nath Mishra was one of the 22 candidates to have contested the election from the Manjhi assembly seat on February 27, 1990. Back then, he contested the election as an Independent and lost to the Janata Dal. Mishra secured 10,224 votes, next only to the runner-up from the Congress.

Mishra eventually won the seat in the 2000 state elections and was inducted as a rural development minister in the Rabri Devi-led Rashtriya Janata Dal government. He later switched sides and joined the Congress.

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Police filed a charge sheet against Mishra on March 19, 1991 and the court framed charges against them on November 13, 1991. But the case got stuck for one reason or the other. It was revived and put on a fast track under a scheme to designate special judges to try cases against elected representatives

Saran’s additional district and session judge-III, Nalin Kumar Pandey, convicted him for the death of a voter and is expected to pronounce the quantum of the sentence on February 21.

Additional public prosecutor Dhruvdeo Singh said Mishra was convicted for the murder of Uma Bin, a resident of Chand Diara, who sustained bullet injuries during an attempt by armed miscreants to capture two booths at a polling station in Dumri village, a reference to goons taking control of the polling booths, stamping the paper ballot and stuffing the paper into boxes.

Uma Bin, the man injured in the shooting, later succumbed to his injuries.

A polling agent Mahesh Prasad Yadav filed a first information report (FIR) alleging that Ravindra Nath Mishra and his brother Harendra Mishra among others were involved in the incident. The court acquitted his brother but convicted Ravindra Nath.

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