The criminal Ashok Mahto gang, which was active in the Indian state Bihar, was led by Ashok Mahto and included Pintu Mahto. Ashok Mahto and his gang were responsible for the 2005 killing of Rajo Singh, a sitting Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha). Ashok Mahto was imprisoned but escaped from Nawada jail in 2002. Pintu Mahto killed three police officers during the prison breakout. The gang's leaders are said to belong to either the Kurmi or Koeri caste, and was supported by the backward castes in the Nawada and Sheikhpura regions. The Mahto gang was waging a war of retribution against the exploitative upper-caste Bhumihars. Mahto and his gang were responsible for the killings of a large number of Forward Caste people in late 1990s.
Mahto-Singh rivalry
The rivalry between Mahto and gangster Akhilesh Singh affected over 100 villages in the Nawada, Nalanda and Sheikhpura districts of Bihar. Between 1998 and 2006, the rivalry, which claimed over 200 lives in Nawada district, stemmed from caste conflict between Bhumihars and Koeris. The clash between the two groups would decide power over stone-crushing and sand-lifting arrangements in the affected districts. In 2003, the Mahto gang allegedly killed the father of a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Aruna Devi – the wife of Akhilesh Singh – and five others, including a six-year-old boy. It was reported the killings were in retaliation for the deaths of seven labourers who were allegedly killed by the Akhilesh Singh gang. In 2000 they attacked the same MLA's house and killed over 12 people.
The Mahto-Singh rivalry was a rivalry between two gangs for supremacy but a mobilisation of castes in support of each of these two gangs also took place. During the 2005 election, Aruna Devi, the wife of Akhilesh Singh, was a Lok Janshakti Party candidate for the region's legislative assembly. According to one of her supporters, the charges of murder and abduction upon Akhilesh Singh were frivolous and he had taken up arms to fight for the honour of his community, the Bhumihars. Ashok Mahto and his men were said to have taken over the responsibility for protecting the rights of the suppressed Koeri community and as other Backward Castes. Aruna Devi faced opposition from Pradeep Mahto, the nephew of Ashok Mahto, who also had several charges against him. Ashok Mahto was also responsible for killing a large number of upper-caste people in the area.
According to some of the inhabitants of Warsaliganj and Afsar, the Mahto gang had enforced sanctions upon Bhumihars to use a particular road in their area of influence. As per their description, the Bhumihar people, if found using that road for travelling to their destinations, were severely punished by Mahto gang.
Arrests and trial
The Ashok Mahto gang consisted of gangsters such as Pintu Mahto, who was charged with nearly thirty murders and kidnappings, including the murder of three police officers and Congress politician Rajo Singh. Pintu Mahto was responsible for the Ashok Mahto gang in Warisaliganj and Sheikhpura, Nawada district. The Mahto gang also included Sharda Yadav, who was convicted of the massacre of 11 upper-caste people at the village Apshar, and of looting and abduction. Yadav was arrested with nine other aides in 2003. "Ariyari" Police also got success in arresting Bacchu Mahto, the sharpshooter of Mahto gang. Mahto was arrested in 2006, while he was travelling to court; Bihar Police Special Authority Police (SAP) officers carried out a procession in which Mahto, half-naked and bleeding, was dressed in garland of slippers. This incident proved controversial and the region's backward castes saw it as a punishment to the gangster for opposing Bhumihars. Mahto enjoyed considerable support among the backward classes; his public humiliation prompted questions such as; "Can the police humiliate an upper-caste gangster in a similar manner?"
After his attendance in the court, Superintendent of Police Amit Lodha said Mahto had admitted his involvement in the murder of Rajo Singh. Mahto, however, spoke about his links with JD(U) leader Rajeev Ranjan Singh and his close ties with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The court and the police did not take these claims seriously. The opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal and Lok Janshakti Party pressed for a CBI enquiry in the issue and asked Lalan Singh to resign. The Chief Minister came under pressure from the opposition.