Shahabuddin cleared in triple murder case
Former Siwan parliamentarian and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Mohammad Shahabuddin was acquitted on Monday and absolved of charges against him in the murder of former Jamshedpur Youth Congress president Pradeep Mishra and two more people.
Jamshedpur additional district and sessions judge Ajit Kumar Singh acquitted the jailed politician because of lack of evidence against him.
“The prosecution failed to furnish adequate evidence against the accused persons,” court said.
Shahabuddin, who is in Tihar jail in connection with several criminal cases lodged in Bihar, was made to appear before the court through videoconferencing on Monday.
Four other accused in the case were cleared of all charges in 2006, while three more suspects died during the course of the trial.
The incident took place on February 2, 1989, when assailants intercepted the Congress leader’s car and fired multiple gunshots.
Mishra and his friends, Janardan Choubey and Anand Rao, died in the attack.
Mishra’s bodyguard, Brahmeshwar Pathak, lodged an FIR in this connection against eight men, including Shahabuddin, and a former member of Bihar legislative assembly, Rama Singh.
Besides Shahabuddin, the seven other accused who faced trial were Rama Singh, Paras Nath Singh, Sushil Singh, Kallu Singh, Saheb Singh, Virendra Singh, Dashrath Singh.
The trial against Shahabuddin has been pending for a long time as he had not made appearances before the court in the matter.
The court had issued summons to him last October.
Shabuddin’s advocate G Barat Babla said there was no evidence against him to prove his complicity in the crime.
He said: “False charges were levelled against my client.”