Hindi film lyricist Anand Bakshi rose above the mundane for a change and wrote the following lines as part of a song for the film Amar Prem...
Hindi film lyricist Anand Bakshi rose above the mundane for a change and wrote the following lines as part of a song for the film Amar Prem:
Humse mat puchho kaise
Mandir toota sapno ka
Logon ki baat nahin hai
Yeh kissa hai apno ka
These words encapsulate the disintegration of Dhanbad’s “first family” helmed by coal mafia don and politician Suryadeo Singh. Once both dreaded and loved in the coal belt town, now in Jharkhand, the Singh parivar stands fragmented today as a result of disputes from within – disputes that have led to the killing of members of the family, friends and associates. Suryadeo Singh succumbed to a heart disease in 1991, but the cycle of violence which began with him, initially targeting business and political rivals, eventually consumed key members of his own family.
Suryadeo Singh had four brothers. Vikram Singh was the eldest. The others are Bachcha Singh, Ramadhir Singh and Rajan Singh. They originally hailed from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, and barring Vikram Singh, the others migrated to Dhanbad and set up their respective families alongside Suryadeo Singh. The don constructed the sprawling Singh Mansion in the coal town and his brothers, along with their families, subsequently lived there. The Singh Mansion was, in its heyday, the fulcrum...
