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The Bihar Assembly elections are almost here, and 243 seats are up for grabs by more than 2,000 candidates from various political parties. Two former police officers are also among the candidates who have now turned to politics and are set to try their luck in the coming election. Shivdeep Lande, a 2006 batch IPS officer of Bihar cadre, is contesting the upcoming election as an independent candidate from Araria. Anand Mishra, a distinguished IPS officer from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Buxar. The two former police officers were known as ‘singham’ (lion) by their colleagues, with Mishra receiving the title in Assam, where they served. Both ex-IPS officers chose to enter politics after their resignation from police. Shivdeep Vamanrao Lande Lande, 49, hails from Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region and has a degree in electrical engineering. He served as the district police chief of several districts, including Munger, Araria and Patna City SP. He had also gone to Maharashtra on deputation for five years. He returned to Bihar in 2022 and joined as deputy inspector general (DIG) of the Kosi range. While serving as an ASP in Munger and an SP in Patna, Lande earned the reputation of a feared police officer who was credited for tackling eve-teasing and street crime. He stepped down from service in 2024 while serving as Inspector-General in Purnia, expressing his desire to contest in the Bihar elections. Lande floated his own party, the Hindu Sena, to contest from Jamalpur in Munger as an independent. His affidavit revealed that he has assets worth Rs 20.74 lakh and no criminal record. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shivdeep Wamanrao Lande (@shivdeeplande) His wife, Mamta Shivtare Lande, is the daughter of former Maharashtra Minister Vijay Shivtare and a successful businesswoman. She has declared assets of Rs 20.5 crore, including two SUVs (a Land Cruiser worth Rs 60 lakh and a Scorpio priced at Rs 29 lakh), 100 grams of gold, shares in several banks, and properties in Mumbai’s Marine Lines and Pune. She also owns 17 acres of land and carries loans of Rs 2.7 crore. Their daughter, Arha Shivdeep Lande, holds assets worth Rs 14.8 lakh. Anand Mishra Mishra, 44, hailed from Bihar but completed his schooling and college education in Kolkata’s St Xavier’s College before embarking on his civil service journey. His father was an employee at Hindustan Motors in Kolkata. Mishra later pursued a Master’s in Police Management from Osmania University in Hyderabad. Mishra secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 225 in the UPSC CSE 2010 and held the position of Superintendent of Police (SP) in the Lakhimpur district of Assam. His contributions earned him the moniker Assam’s Singham on social media platforms, where he boasts a significant following of 326,000 on Instagram. For his service, the cop-turned-politician was awarded the President’s Medal for Gallantry, the Chief Minister’s Award for Exceptional Service, and the Union Home Ministry’s Internal Security Service Medal. He resigned from service last year and contested the Lok Sabha election from Bihar as an independent candidate after failing to secure a BJP ticket. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Anand Mishra (@anandmishra.ips) Mishra briefly joined Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party but later quit and joined the BJP in August. He was given the ticket from Buxar. His affidavit lists total assets worth Rs 2.5 crore — including movable assets of Rs 60 lakh, 100 grams of gold, and a Royal Enfield motorcycle valued at Rs 2.51 lakh. He also owns a Rs 60 lakh house in Hooghly, West Bengal. However, Mishra faces a pending case linked to his participation in the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) student protest. His wife, Archana Tiwari, is also a businesswoman, with declared movable assets of Rs 88.4 lakh and immovable ones worth Rs 17 lakh. Mishra’s annual income for 2024–25 is estimated at Rs 1.85 lakh, while Archana’s is projected to be above Rs 12 lakh.
