In a poll-bound state in India, things move quickly. And when that state happens to be Bihar, the dizziness caused by sudden change of events can be quite taxing, more so when one is caught on a wrong foot. The high profile IPS officer Lipi Singh realised this a few days ago.
The 2016-batch police officer built her solid, and often fearful, reputation assiduously. Her reputation grew in leaps and bounds, earning her the sobriquet of `Lady Singham’ (i.e., a police officer who will tolerate no nonsense and would fight for the underprivileged. Blockbuster Hindi film `Singham’, carrying similar theme a few years ago made it a household name in India).
Police Firing
But the police firing in Munger on October 26, a day before it went to polls, changed Lipi Singh’s world in the flash of an eyelid. She, along with the District Collector, was shunted out on the orders of Election Commission of India. The firing led to the death of one person, and injury to seven. Things did not go smoothly for the IPS officer; some even equated her with General Dyer- the British police officer held responsible for the massacre of scores of people in Jalianwalan Bagh, Punjab, during British rule.
Some earlier reports , in defence of the police, attributed the death to firing by the “local miscreants.’’ But this did not hold water. A report on the firing incident by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to the Election Commissioner even closed this escape route for Lipi Singh. It clearly states that the firing was carried out by the local police.
Political and Other Connections
Lipi Singh comes from a politically well-connected family. Her father Mr RCP Singh, himself a retired IAS officer from the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh, is firmly entrenched in the corridors of power. A Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, he is considered close to the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Lipi Singh’s husband Sudarsha Bhagat is the District Collector of Banka. An IAS officer of repute, he had scored fifth rank in 2015 UPSC exams.
Confronting Don-turned-MLA
Lipi Singh rose to fame sometimes in August 2019, when she crossed sword with the notorious Bihar politician Anant Kumar Singh. At the time, he was the MLA from Mokama in Bihar, the seat he won in 2015 as an independent candidate. And when Lipi Singh raided Singh’s ancestral house, the police team recovered large cache of arms, including an AK-47 assault rifle, live cartridges and bombs.
All this was sufficient to sink Ananth Kumar Singh’s political fortunes- but only for some time. The MLA went underground and reappeared a week later when he “surrendered’’ in a court in South Delhi. Currently incarcenated in Bihar’s Beur jail, Singh’s political journey is far from over. In the ongoing Bihar elections, he is contesting Mokama seat on the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ticket.
Unfortunately, same cannot be said of Lipi Singh. Only time will tell when- and if- she will bounce back from the hole she finds herself in. But in Bihar, anything can happen.
