Bihar Pandav Sena head to ‘gangster’ arrested by STF: Who is Sanjay Singh

The arrest of Sanjay Singh, an alleged gangster and leader of the outlawed Pandav Sena, an erstwhile upper-caste militia in Bihar, on Tuesday marks a significant breakthrough for the state police.

The development assumes significance not only on account of Singh’s role in violent caste conflicts that roiled central Bihar in the 1990s, but also because investigators say he later transformed his outfit into an organised inter-state criminal syndicate. Police records show that he has been facing more than 25 criminal cases.

Singh’s trajectory reflects a shift from ideologically driven agrarian violence to organised crime in parts of Bihar.

A resident of Nima village under the Masaurhi police station in Patna district, Singh has remained on the radar of law enforcement agencies since the mid-1990s.

Pandav Sena

During the 1990s, central Bihar witnessed a long-running violent conflict between the Left-wing Naxalite groups, including the Maoist Communist Centre (that later merged with the CPI-Maoist), and private militias backed by sections of the land-owning upper-caste groups. Among the most prominent of these was the Ranvir Sena founded by Brahmeshwar Mukhiya, who was killed in 2012.

Police say Singh was initially associated with the Ranvir Sena before breaking away to establish the Pandav Sena in 1995 along with Chitranjan Sharma.

The Pandav Sena emerged as a local militia that sought to counter Naxalite influence and protect the interests of landowners. The group was active across parts of Patna, particularly Masaurhi and Dhanarua, as well as Jehanabad, Arwal, and pockets of Gaya, Nalanda and Bhagalpur.

A senior police officer who investigated several of Singh’s cases told The Indian Express: “Unlike traditional village defence groups, Singh expanded the outfit’s operational capabilities. The gang amassed sophisticated weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles, enabling it to operate across multiple districts.”

Sharma later entered politics and was elected as a BJP MLA in 2010 from the Arwal seat. He died last year at the age of 51 after a prolonged illness.

Militia to organised crime

Police say that as state action and changing political conditions weakened private militias, Singh gradually converted the Pandav Sena into a criminal network operating across Bihar and neighbouring Jharkhand.

According to investigators, the syndicate expanded into illegal sand mining, allegedly taking control of sand ghats along the Sone river in Patna, Bhojpur and Saran districts. Police say his gang allegedly extorted money from sand-laden boats and later “diversified” into land grabbing, extortion and contract killings, targeting contractors, developers and business owners.

Cases, rivalry

According to Bihar Special Task Force (STF) Director General (Operations) Kundan Krishnan, Singh has been named in at least 26 criminal cases registered in Bihar and Jharkhand. These include cases of murder, kidnapping for ransom, dacoity with murder, offences under the Arms Act, and provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

A major chapter in Singh’s criminal history involved his fallout with former associate Chitranjan Sharma. Police say the dispute, initially linked to control over territory and operations, escalated into a prolonged gang rivalry.

In April 2020, Singh survived an attack near Nadwan railway station and accused the Sharma faction of orchestrating it. In May 2022, Singh’s close aide Sudhir Sharma was beaten to death, further intensifying the conflict.

Investigators say that Singh subsequently planned a series of retaliatory attacks. In April 2022, hotelier Abhiram Sharma, Sharma’s uncle, was shot dead at his residence in Jehanabad, while his nephew Dinesh was killed near Masaurhi. The following day, Sharma’s brothers, Gautam and Shambhu Singh, were shot dead on a highway in Patna district.

Arrest

Following the 2022 killings, Singh was arrested by the STF in Ranchi. He later secured bail in 2024.

Police say Singh went underground again in August 2025 after an STF raid on an alleged sand-mining camp in Bihta led to the arrest of 14 associates and the seizure of an AK-47 rifle, other firearms and more than 100 live cartridges.

After remaining on the run for nearly a year, Singh was arrested on Tuesday by the Bihar STF at Patna Junction railway station after he arrived on a train from Delhi, police said.