Thaindian News

Patna, Dec 16 (IANS) Jailed Bihar legislator Sunil Pandey, who has been given a life term for kidnapping a doctor, already has a doctorate and is now keen on obtaining a D Litt. He also wants to write a book on the principles of non-violence propounded by lord Mahavir, the 24th and last Tirthankara of the Jain religion.Pandey, in his 40s, is a legislator of Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and is currently lodged in Patna’s Beur jail. He has earlier been awarded a Ph.D from Veer Kuer Singh University (VKSU) in Ara in Bhojpur district, about 60 km from here.

Pandey, a known bahubali (politician with criminal background), has nearly two dozen criminal cases against him that include murder, kidnapping, extortion and loot. In September, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping Ramesh Chandra, a neurosurgeon, in 2003.

Chandra was abducted from Patna May 18, 2003 while he was returning home from a party. He was rescued two days later by the police from Chiraura village near Patna.

The abductors had demanded Rs.10 million as ransom, but Chandra was rescued without paying any money, police had then said.

At the time of Chandra’s kidnapping, Pandey was a Samata Party legislator from Piro in Bhojpur.

“Pandey has made up his mind to obtain a D Litt degree and write a book on the relevance of Mahavir’s non-violence,” a close associate of Pandey told IANS on condition of anonymity.

The legilator has written at least half a dozen well-researched articles on Mahavir’s non-violence.

A family friend said that Pandey was drawn towards Mahavir’s philosophy of non-violence.

”Pandey has been doing research on Mahavir’s non-violence not for livelihood or out of any compulsion,” he said.

Pandey’s Ph.D was on ‘Mahavir Ke Updesh Adhunik Paripeksha Mein’ (Mahavir’s teachings in the modern context).

Official sources in the Veer Kuer Singh University said Pandey had appeared for the viva examination Nov 25 under police custody. He was interviewed for nearly an hour by a team of experts on Jainism and the result was published Nov 27.

Pandey, once said to be close to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, hit the headlines in 2006 when he threatened to kill some mediapersons at a hotel in Patna.