NDA leaders meet governor over Shahabuddin’s release
PATNA: Even as fissures showed up in the Grand Alliance (GA) over RJD leaders’ diatribe against chief minister Nitish Kumar, a delegation of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders met governor Ram Nath Kovind and urged him to facilitate the slapping of the Crime Control Act (CCA) against former Siwan MP and RJD vice president Mohammad Shahabuddin, who has just been released on bail.
Former deputy CM and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said an atmosphere of fear was palpable in Bihar after the dont-urned-politician and RJD leader Shahabuddin got out of jail on bail. “We have sought the governor’s direction to the state government to invoke CCA against the dreaded RJD strongman,” he said after meeting the governor on Monday evening.
The controversial RJD leader Shahabuddin was granted bail by Patna High Court on September 7 in a case of murder of an eyewitness. The man who was murdered was a prime witness in the killing of two brothers in Siwan. The court released Shahabuddin owing to a delay in filing chargesheet by the police and the trial overshooting the legal deadline.
The trial court had sentenced him life in the case.
Alleging that the government ‘’stage managed’’ Shahabuddin’’s release on bail, Modi alleged that the condition for his release was created by the officials who delayed trial in one of the cases against him.
“Chief minister Nitish Kumar should step down as his government has utterly failed in handling the Shahabuddin issue,” said Modi, adding that the NDA would stage dharna here on September 14 on the issue.
Later, talking to mediapersons, Modi said the government should set up a special police cell, headed by an IG rank officer, to monitor trial of all cases against Shahabuddin in a time-bound manner. He also sought action against the officers responsible for not serving high court notices to Shahabuddin in the cases, the trial of which was slated to begin in 2013, but could not be initiated. That, he said, lead to his bail.
“A panel of renowned lawyers of the country should also be roped in for bringing the RJD strongman to justice for his crimes over the years,” said the former deputy CM, adding that all those who had fallen victim to the violence unleased by Shahabuddin’’s men be granted security by the government.
Opposition leader Prem Kumar, HAM state president Brishin Patel, RLSP MP Ram Kumar Sharma and senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav were also present at the press conference.