RANCHI: In a blistering attack on Jharkhand’s former top cop, Opposition Leader and ex–Chief Minister Babulal Marandi has accused former DGP Anurag Gupta of “actively enabling” a criminal empire run by jailed gangster Sujit Sinha and endangering national security. Marandi has formally urged the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to launch an exhaustive probe into what he calls a “state-protected syndicate operating under the nose of the police.”
In his Nov. 16 letter to the NIA, Marandi alleges that Gupta — instead of dismantling organized crime — helped strengthen it by allowing illegal arms to flow across states, shielding key operatives, and turning a blind eye to extortion, contract killings and cross-border links. The letter claims Gupta’s proximity to Sinha’s network allowed criminal activities to flourish while police resources were allegedly misused to neutralize rivals and silence whistleblowers.
Marandi also points to suspected tampering of digital evidence and manipulation of police investigations, saying the former DGP’s role “raises disturbing questions about who was protecting whom.” The purported involvement of Gupta’s associates and family members, he adds, signals a pattern of deep-rooted collusion.
The letter further alleges that Gupta backed the formation of a front outfit, the so-called Koylanchal Shanti Samiti, using it as a cover to influence mining regions and strategic areas. Marandi warns that such activities could have “serious national security repercussions” given the region’s history of insurgent and extremist movements.
Calling the allegations “too grave to be left to state machinery,” Marandi has demanded federal scrutiny of the money trail, digital communications, and arms procurement channels that he says tie Gupta to the syndicate’s operations.
The former DGP has not publicly responded to the accusations.
