Brijesh Singh is an Indian politician and strongman who is considered one of the most influential figures in the eastern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. He is also known for his long history of crime in the region. From a good student to a strongman, Brijesh Singh’s life story is nothing less than the story of a Bollywood movie.
Wiki/Biography
Brijesh Singh (also known as Arun Kumar Singh) was born on Monday, November 9, 1964 (55 years old in 2019) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He grew up in the village of Dhaurahara in Varanasi. Brijesh was a good student and in 1984, he passed the intermediate examinations from Udaipratap College in Varanasi with flying colours. Thereafter, he enrolled in a college in Varanasi to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree; however, he dropped out midway and joined the world of crime.
appearance
Height (approximate): 5′ 7″
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Black
Family and caste
Brijesh Singh belongs to a Thakur (Kshatriya) family in eastern Uttar Pradesh, India.
Parents and siblings
His father, Ravindranath Singh, was employed by the irrigation department in Ghazipur and was an active politician in the area. On August 27, 1984, Ravindranath Singh was killed by his political opponents in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh. Brijesh Singh’s elder brother, Uday Nath Singh (also known as Chulbul Singh), was a politician who served as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (MLC) for twelve consecutive years as a member of the BJP. Uday Nath Singh died in February 2018.
Brijesh Singh’s brother Uday Nath Sing aka Chulbul Singh
Relationships, Wife and Children
Brijesh Singh’s wife is Annapurna Singh aka Punam Singh, a former Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (MLC) member from the BSP party. His daughter Priyanka Singh is married to police officer Swatantra Singh.
Brijesh Singh (sitting second from left) with his wife and daughter (sitting second from right)
A science student turned criminal
Before entering the world of crime, Brijesh Singh was a brilliant student who dreamed of making a career in science. In 1984, Brijesh had just started his B.S. degree at a college in Varanasi when his father, Ravindranath Singh, was murdered in broad daylight in Gazipur. On August 27, 1984, while on his way home, Ravindranath Singh was stabbed by his political rival Harihar Singh and the Panchu Singh gang in Gazipur. The incident left Brijesh Singh traumatized and he vowed to avenge his father’s death. Just like that, Brijesh Singh, who was supposed to graduate in science, took his first step towards the world of crime. Brijesh Singh waited for almost a year to avenge his father’s death and finally on May 27, 1985, he confronted Harihar Singh, one of the main perpetrators of his father’s murder. Moments later, Brijesh killed Harihar in broad daylight. This was the first time that Brijesh was prosecuted. After committing the crime, Brijesh fled the crime scene. His next target was Raghunath, the village chief of Dharuhara village. Brijesh shot Raghunath in broad daylight at the court in Gazipur. This was the first killing with an AK-47 rifle in the northeastern state. This incident woke up the government and the government started taking active measures to curb the gang war in the region. In the process, several clashes took place, in one of which, the well-known gangster Panchu Singh was also shot dead.
An old photo of Brijesh Singh
The West Clara Massacre
In an attempt to kill the remaining members of Harihar and Panchu Singh’s gang who were involved in the murder of his father, Brijesh Singh went to the village of Sikkalala and killed seven people, including the then Gram Pradhan Ramchandra Yadav and his four children. The Uttar Pradesh police named 13 people, including Brijesh Singh, as suspects in the Sikkalala massacre case. This was the first time Brijesh was in police custody. The trial of the Sikkalala massacre lasted for 32 years; however, he was acquitted in August 2018 due to lack of substantial evidence against Brijesh Singh.
On the other hand, a woman named Hiravati later filed a lawsuit challenging the verdict of the Varanasi trial court, which acquitted Singh. However, the Allahabad High Court also acquitted Singh after concluding all hearings on November 20, 2023.
The formation of the Mafia
Although Brijesh Singh entered the world of crime under the pretext of avenging his father, he continued to indulge in criminal acts and expanded his criminal activities throughout Purvanchal, in the process he was helped by another strongman Tribhuvan Singh of Mudiyar village in Gazipur. Both Tribhuvan and Brijesh Singh were involved in the liquor, silk and coal business. Soon, they became veterans in these businesses, especially in Purvanchal and Bihar.
A rare photo of Brijesh Singh
Biggest competitor
In the 90s, Brijesh Singh clashed with another strongman from Ghazipur, Mukhtar Ansari. Ansari was considered a very powerful politician and mafia in Purvanchal at that time. The bone of contention between Ansari and Brijesh Singh gangs was government tenders and contracts, including public works department, railways and coal tenders. A series of gang wars broke out between Ansari and Brijesh Singh gangs, resulting in many deaths. Since then, both sides have been trying to kill each other.
Connection with Dawood Ibrahim
In order to escape from Mukhtar Ansari’s gang, Brijesh Singh went into hiding in Mumbai, where he met Subhash Thakur, a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim. Through Subhash Thakur, Brijesh met Dawood, who entrusted him to avenge the murder of Ibrahim Kaskar (Dawood’s brother-in-law). On February 12, 1992, Brijesh Singh entered Mumbai’s JJ Hospital disguised as a doctor and killed four members of the Gawli gang. Dawood was impressed by Brijesh’s actions and the two became close friends; however, their relationship began to deteriorate after the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings; as Brijesh Singh was unaware of Dawood’s plan to destroy Mumbai and kill many innocent people. Although Dawood fled India after the bombings, Brijesh Singh tried to kill Dawood several times; but failed each time.
Brijesh Singh arrested by Mumbai police
arrest
To fight against the rule of Mukhtar Ansari, Brijesh Singh was given political asylum by Krishnanand Rai, a BJP MP from Mohammedabad Assembly. However, in 2005, the Ansari gang killed Krishnanand Rai and Brijesh Singh left Uttar Pradesh and took refuge in Odisha. On January 24, 2008, the Delhi Police’s special cell arrested Brijesh Singh from Bhubaneswar. In February 2008, he was lodged in Varanasi Central Jail. For the next three years, he was lodged in jails in Maharashtra and Gujarat in various cases. In 2012, he returned to Varanasi Central Jail and was subsequently detained by Delhi Police under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 (MCOCA) and lodged in Tihar Jail.
Brijesh Singh detained by police
Political career
Brijesh Singh’s political ambitions were nurtured during his imprisonment. In 2012, he contested the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections from Chandali’s Sayyad Rajya Sabha constituency on behalf of the Socialist Party, but lost. After that, he brought his wife Annapurna into politics. Annapurna became an MLC of the BSP. In 2016, Brijesh Singh became an MLC as an independent, although the BJP secretly supported him.
Brijesh Singh celebrates his MLC victory
Facts/Trivia
- Brijesh Singh faces more than 30 serious criminal charges.
- According to reports, before killing Panchur Singh’s father Harihar Singh, Brijesh had touched his feet and gifted him a shawl and then kept shooting him till he died.
- Brijesh Singh earned nicknames like “Hindu Don”, “Hindu Don” and “Robin Hood of the East” for his repeated attempts to kill Dawood Ibrahim.
- Before they became rivals, Brijesh Singh and Mukhtar Ansari were good friends.
- After years of court trials in the Mumbai JJ Hospital shooting case, Brijesh Singh was acquitted in 2008 due to lack of evidence. Brijesh Singh was charged under TADA in the JJ Hospital shooting case.
- The JJ Hospital shooting established that Brijesh Singh was no longer a member of the Purvanchal mafia but a national level mafia member.
- In the 1990s, Brijesh worked as a sharpshooter for Surya Dev Singh, a coal mafia and strongman politician from Jharia in Jharkhand. However, in 2003, Brijesh Singh was accused of kidnapping and murdering Surya Dev Singh’s son Rajiv Ranjan Singh.
- In 2001, his name cropped up in the Usari Chatti shooting case in Ggazipur, which left two people dead.
- Brijesh Singh started his smuggling business with scrap iron and later expanded to coal. After that, he entered the liquor business in Azamgarh and continued to expand his business to Ballia, Bhadohi, Varanasi and even Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. He also has large holdings in real estate and sand mining.
- MX Player’s original crime drama web series Raktanchal is reportedly inspired by real events from Purvanchal in the 80s; specifically the rivalry between the gangs of Brijesh Singh and Mukhtar Ansari.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education