Mohammad Shahabuddin out, faces Opposing attack

After spending 11 years in jail, criminal-turned-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin was released on Saturday. Shahabuddin, who is facing trial in the murder case of an acid-attack eyewitness, Rajiv Roshan, was granted bail by the Patna high court.

Rajiv Roshan was the sole eyewitness in the murder of his two brothers, Girish and Satish, who were brutally killed after they were given an acid bath on August 16, 2004 in Siwan. Rajiv Roshan was later killed in June 2014, barely three days before he was to appear before the court, to testify against Shahabuddin and his men.

Opposing his release from jail, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said the state government should have imposed the Crime Control Act against Shahabuddin, saying that his release may disturb the peace in Siwan and that he may harass his opponents.

“Shahabuddin, when he was in jail, had made plans to eliminate his opponents. Imagine what he can do now after he has been released,” Mr Modi said, claiming that the state government paved the way for his release from jail.

His release also turned out to be a mega show of strength as political leaders from RJD gathered outside the jail premises along with their supporters to greet him. Sources claimed that more than 100 SUVs and cars escorted him back to Siwan from Bhagalpur.

Dismissing the BJP’s allegation that he was released on “managed bail” Shahabuddin said, “The government has nothing to do with my release it was the judiciary which granted me bail.” Shahabuddin also took a dig at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, calling him “chief minister of circumstances”, and said that his support to Lalu Yadav will continue as before. “Lalu Yadav is a bigger and stronger leader than Nitish Kumar,” he said. According to political observers in Bihar, Shahabuddin’s release within six months of the formation of the Grand Secular Alliance government may create a stronger political equation for RJD.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who was in Jharkhand on Saturday, brushed aside Shahabuddin’s statement, calling it “unimportant” and refused to give any reaction.

Meanwhile, sources from Siwan said that family members of Rajiv Roshan have complained of threat on their lives.

The former RJD MP, who was earlier declared by the state police department as Type A history-sheeter, was arrested by the Nitish Kumar government in 2005 in connection with a murder case.

Shahabuddin faces more than 39 criminal cases, including those of kidnapping and murder, remained inside jail for 11 years. He was shifted to Bhagalpur jail in May 2016 after his prison cell in Siwan was raided by the police in connection with the murder of senior journalist Rajdeo Ranjan.