CBI chargesheets Shahabuddin, 6 others in Bihar scribe murder case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Siwan MP Mohammad Shahabuddin in the murder case of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan.
The chargesheet against Shahabuddin and six other accused —Laddan Mian alias Azharuddin Beg, Rishu Kumar Jaiswal, Rohit Kumar Soni, Vijay Kumar Gupta, Rajesh Kumar and Sonu Kumar Gupta — was filed in a special CBI court at Muzaffarpur, 71km north of Patna.
The former MP and other accused have been charged under IPC Sections 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 302 (punishment for murder) and Section 34 of the Arms Act.
Rajdeo Ranjan, then bureau chief of Hindi daily was shot dead near Siwan railway station on May 13, 2016.
Shahabuddin, lodged in high security Tihar jail in New Delhi as per a Supreme Court direction on the appeal of slain journalist’s wife Asha Ranjan and other complainants, was earlier produced before the CBI court through video conferencing.
Defence lawyer Sharad Sinha said a four-member team reached the court of special CBI judge Anupam Kumari on Tuesday morning and submitted the chargesheet. “The CBI team told the court it had enough evidence against Shahabuddin and other accused,” Sinha said. The CBI also mentioned names of Mohammad Kaif and Mohammad Javed, the two other accused who were granted bail after the probe agency failed to chargesheet them within the stipulated 90 days of their arrest.
Shahabuddin’s complicity was alleged by Mohammad Kaif, during his interrogation. The court directed the CBI to name the former MP as an accused in the case on May 22 this year.
The Bihar government had handed over the probe to the CBI on May 16 last year, three days after the murder. The central agency began its probe following the intervention of the Supreme Court after the slain journalist’s wife filed a petition before it on September 23 last year. Asha Ranjan claimed before the top court that the CBI had not even started the probe due to “political influence” and “fear of Mohammad Shahabuddin”.
The top court ordered the CBI to proceed with its probe and asked the Bihar police to provide protection to Ranjan’s family, which had alleged it was receiving threats from Shahabuddin.