Shooter Umesh Singh will come out of jail after 25 years, High Court orders his release:

News India Live, Digital Desk: The way has been cleared for the release of shooter Umesh Singh, who is serving life imprisonment in the murder case of former Nirsa MLA Gurudas Chatterjee, which shook the politics of Jharkhand. Jharkhand High Court has ordered the release of Umesh Singh, who was in jail for almost 25 years. This decision is a major turning point in the much talked about political massacre of Dhanbad, the echo of which is heard even today.

What was the whole matter?

On April 14, 2000, Gurudas Chatterjee, a popular MLA of MAS (Marxist Coordination Committee), was returning to his home in Nirsa on a motorcycle after attending a meeting in Dhanbad. Umesh Singh and his friend Shiv Shankar Singh, who were ambushed near Govindpur, opened fire on him, due to which he died on the spot. Gurudas Chatterjee was known for his simplicity and the leader who raised his voice for the rights of laborers and exploited people. Was known as. His murder in broad daylight had created a sensation in the entire Koylanchal.

In this murder case, the lower court had sentenced Umesh Singh and Shiv Shankar Singh to life imprisonment. Later, the High Court made this punishment more stringent and changed it to death. However, when the culprits approached the Supreme Court, the apex court changed the death sentence back to life imprisonment. Umesh Singh was in jail continuously since April 27, 2000.

Why did the High Court order the release?

Umesh Singh was serving his sentence in jail for the last 30 years (except vacation days). In view of his long imprisonment, applications were made several times before the Advisory Board of the State Government for his release. But the board rejected the application every time saying that Umesh was a professional shooter and releasing him would have a negative impact on the society.

Umesh Singh had filed a petition in the High Court against this decision of the state government. High Court Justice Ambuj Nath, while hearing the case, has ordered the state government to release Umesh Singh, considering his long imprisonment as the basis.

It is noteworthy that Shiv Shankar Singh, the second accused in this murder case, was released in 2018 itself after the decision of the sentence revision committee of the then government. Gurudas Chatterjee’s son Arup Chatterjee is today an MLA from Nirsa, carrying forward his father’s political legacy.