Gangwar in Bihar and the truth of SP Amit Lodha on which ‘Khaki: The Bihar Chapter’ is built

  • Chandan Kumar Jajwade
  • BBC correspondent in Patna (Bihar)

11 minutes ago

image source, NETFLIX INDIA

image caption,

Karan Tacker plays the character of IPS Amit Lodha in the web series

  • Khakee – The Bihar Chapter web series based on the book by IPS officer Amit Lodha
  • Apart from Amit Lodha, discussion of Ashok Mahto gang in web series
  • The Mahto gang was active in Bihar’s Sheikhpura from around the year 2000.
  • This gang was accused of killing Congress MP Rajo Singh in the year 2005.
  • Pintu Mahto was also a member of this Ashok Mahto gang.
  • Pintu Mahto was accused of a large number of murders and kidnappings
  • In this web series the character of Pintu Mahto is shown as Chandan Mahto.
  • The gang war between Mahato gang and forward castes was spread in many villages of Nawada, Nalanda and Sheikhpura districts of Bihar.
  • Amit Lodha was sent as SP of Sheikhpura to deal with this gang war.
  • Amit Lodha has Pintu Mahto, the dreaded shooter of Mahto gang was arrested
  • Presently Pintu Mahto is in Tihar and gang leader Ashok Mahto is in Nawada Jail.

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A new web series on OTT ‘Khakee: The Bihar Chapter’ is in headlines these days.

Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Amit Lodha has written ‘Bihar Diaries’ on crime, politics and his experiences.

This web series is based on this book.

Amit Lodha is currently posted as Inspector General (SCRB) in Bihar Police.

Neeraj Pandey has written the Netflix web series ‘Khakee The Bihar Chapter’. It is directed by Bhav Dhulia.

The name of the IPS officer in this web series is also Amit Lodha.

In the web series, it has been shown how the Mahato gang of Bihar had established their empire of fear in a particular area and how Amit Lodha freed the people of the area from these criminals.

In this web series, apart from Amit Lodha, a character of Mahato gang has been shown whose name is Chandan Mahto. In reality, the character of Chandan Mahto is based on Pintu Mahto of the Ashok Mahto gang.

It shows the rise of Chandan Mahto and how he established his empire on his own and how IPS officer Amit Lodha faced this challenge.

In the film, the fight between forward and backward has been shown even in the world of crime. Along with this, comments have also been made on the shortcomings of the police system and the political leadership.

In the web series, Amit Lodha is played by Karan Tacker while Chandan Mahto is played by Avinash Tiwari. The series also stars Ashutosh Rana, Ravi Kishan, Anoop Soni and Vinay Pathak.

story and reality

Let us know what was the reality of the Mahto gang mentioned in this web series and the IPS officer Amit Lodha who confronted it.

The events of this web series are almost two decades old from today.

There was a time when it was common to hear gunshots in the area around Sheikhpura in Bihar. People used to get scared even to leave the house after it got dark.

It is said that Amit Lodha played an important role in stopping this gang war of Sheikhpura while he was SP.

Amit Lodha is currently posted as Inspector General (SCRB) in Bihar Police.

‘Khakee: The Bihar Chapter’ is the story of that time, when the news of politics and crime in Bihar was often in headlines.

At that time, the news of the fight for ethnic supremacy was often heard in Sheikhpura, Nawada and surrounding areas of Bihar.

Many government officials, businessmen and even former MP Rajo Singh were killed in this fight.

Not only this, common people and even children had to lose their lives in this gang war.

Many murders took place even after Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister. Amit Lodha was posted on the post of Sheikhpura SP at the same time.

Tati and Manikpur massacre have also been mentioned in this web series.

Web Series 'Khakee: The Bihar Chapter'

image source, NETFLIX INDIA

image caption,

A still from the web series ‘Khakee: The Bihar Chapter’

what is tati and Manikpur Massacre

This incident is of 26 December 2001. There is a small bridge between Sheikhpura and Barbigha in Bihar which is known as ‘Tati Pul’.

People close to RJD were shot dead on this bridge in broad daylight.

Apart from Kashi Nath Yadav, the then RJD president of Sheikhpura district, eight people including Anil Mahato, Abodh Kumar, Sikandar Yadav and Vipin Kumar were killed in the Tati massacre.

It is said that the gang war in Sheikhpura started from the Tati bridge massacre. After that many more murders happened here.

Srinivas, a local journalist of Sheikhpura, has closely observed the events of that period.

According to him, “The charge of this massacre was leveled against the then MP Rajo Singh, his son and minister in the state government, Sanjay Singh and several people of Rajo Singh’s family.”

Srinivas told the BBC, “However, Rajo Singh was later acquitted of the charges. Sanjay Singh died of a heart attack on the same day in 2010, the day the Munger court sentenced Sanjay Singh.”

Actually two gangs were active in this area at that time. One was the Ashok Mahto gang, which was called a gang of backward castes and the other was a gang of forward castes or basically Bhumihars.

Chandan Mahto is played by Avinash Tiwari.

image source, NETFLIX INDIA

image caption,

Chandan Mahto is played by Avinash Tiwari.

Mahto gang

The character named Chandan Mahto, who is mentioned in the web series of Netflix, has been told to be associated with this Mahto gang.

While in reality the leader of the Mahato gang that had troubled Amit Lodha was Ashok Mahto.

But in the series, the character of Chandan Mahto has been modeled on Pintu Mehta of the Ashok Mahto gang.

Rajo Singh was also murdered only four years after the Tati massacre.

Sanjay Singh’s son and current MLA from Barbigha Sudarshan Kumar was also contacted to know about the events of that period.

Sudarshan Kumar only said that he has heard about this web series, but cannot give any feedback before watching it.

The Manipur massacre has also been mentioned in the Netflix web series.

Srinivas recalls, “This incident is from the year 2006. In this, earlier the people of Mahto gang were shot dead while they were sleeping.”

“Later the Mahto gang had accused a family of being informers for this massacre. To take revenge, the Mahto gang killed all the people present in that family’s house.”

According to a news of the Indian Express newspaper dated 21 and 22 May 2006, seven people including three children were murdered in this.

Just a few days before this massacre, nine people of the Ashok Mahato gang were murdered in the neighboring Nalanda district.

The Ashok Mahato gang suspected the supporters of Akhilesh Singh of this massacre. That’s why it was believed that Akhilesh Singh’s supporters were killed in Manikpur to avenge this.

This type of murder had become common in Sheikhpura and surrounding areas.

There was a lot of anger among the people against the Manikpur massacre. Only after that Amit Lodha was sent here as SP.

Web Series Khakee The Bihar Chapter, Karan Tacker

image source, NETFLIX INDIA

How did the killing spree end?

Ganga Kumar Yadav, former president of Sheikhpura municipality, says, “Amit Kumar Lodha caught several members of the Mahto gang from Deoghar in Jharkhand and only after that peace returned to the city.”

According to Ganga Kumar Yadav, ‘Kargil’ was formed in Arari block at that time. Its effect gradually started coming on Sheikhpura city as well.

‘There used to be firing here at any time. Many businessmen, headmen and even former MPs were murdered in this.

‘People used to be afraid to leave the house after six in the evening.’

Journalist Srinivas recalls, “People in Manikpur refused to pick up the dead bodies. Nitish Kumar also came there at that time and only after giving his assurance, the dead bodies were cremated.”

Amit Lodha

image source, Amit Lodha / Instagram

image caption,

IPS Amit Lodha

According to him, after this incident, Amit Lodha was sent to bring peace in Sheikhpura.

Ganga Kumar Yadav says, “Amit Kumar Lodha sahab charged the criminals and put them inside the jail.”

Srinivas says, “People do thank Amit Lodha for restoring peace here. His book and web series also became hits. So could not conduct proper investigation nor could give solid evidence in the court.

What was happening in Sheikhpura at that time and how close is the Netflix web series to Amit Lodha’s book?

We also tried to get Amit Lodha’s response on this, but he could not be contacted even after repeated attempts.

what happened to ashok mahto gang

After the Manikpur massacre in Sheikhpura, SP Amit Lodha arrested Pintu Mahto and his gang members with a lot of effort.

The case against him also went on for a long time.

Ashok Mahto and Pintu Mahto were tried for several murders and kidnappings.

Ashok Mahto and Pintu Mahto were famous members of that gang. Pintu Mahato was accused of killing policemen in order to escape by breaking Nawada jail.

While on Ashok Mahato for the murder of MP Rajo Singh. Later Ashok Mahato was acquitted of the charge of murdering Rajo Singh.

Today Ashok Mahto, the head of the Mahto gang, is serving life sentence in Nawada Jail.

While Pintu Mahto was convicted in the Rajo Singh murder case and is currently in Tihar Jail.

Tags: Gangwar Bihar truth Amit Lodha Khaki Bihar Chapter built

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