Bihar strongman Shahbuddin walks out of jail after 11 years

PATNA: Bihar strongman and controversial RJD leader Mohammad Shahbuddin on Saturday walked out of jail after Patna High Court granted him bail in a case of murder of a witness in the killing of two brothers in Siwan by bathing them in acid. Shahabuddin’s supporters, including RJD legislators and former ministers, accorded him a grand welcome on his release from Bhagalpur jail. "We all know I was framed. But it was Court who jailed me, and now the Court has released me," he said. The gangster turned politician said that he would not try changing his image as people have accepted him the way he is for 26 years. "My release has got nothing to do with politics, judiciary has its own procedures. People have accepted me the way I am for 26 years. I have not attended any meeting for over ten years but still scores of supporters have converged here to welcome me. Why would I change my image?" he added. Shahabuddin has already got bail from the high court in the case related to the murder of the brothers, Girish Raj and Satish Raj. The RJD leader, who has been a four-term MP from Siwan, faces around 40 criminal cases lodged against him of which a dozen are in trial stage. At present lodged in Bhagalpur central jail, Shahabuddin "will be now a free man", said his counsel Y.V. Giri. Shahabuddin has been in jail since November 2005 after he was arrested from his official MP's residence in New Delhi by a joint team of Bihar and Delhi police. The process for the release of Shahabuddin will take three to four days, said legal sources. Justice Sharma, who granted bail to Shahabuddin on Wednesday, had, on February 3 this year, rejected his bail application in the same case. Shahabuddin was sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2015 by a Siwan court in connection with the kidnapping-cum-murder of brothers Girish and Satish, who were doused in acid. The case had hit the headlines in August 2004 when Girish, Satish and their third brother Rajiv Roshan - sons of Siwan businessman Chandra Keshwar Prasad - were picked up by the henchmen of Shahabuddin and taken to his native village Pratappur, where they were given an acid bath. Girish and Satish died. Rajiv, who witnessed the killings, however, managed to escape. Soon after the murder, the mother of the youths Kalawati Devi registered a case with the local police, charging Shahabuddin and his men with killing her sons. The incident had created a furore as Shahabuddin was in jail when the murder took place, a contention raised by counsel Giri during the hearing of the case. The lone surviving brother, Rajiv, who appeared before the lower court in Siwan as an eyewitness in the case, was killed by unidentified assailants on June 16, 2015. Shahabuddin and his son Osama were made accused in the case. They were charged with hatching a conspiracy to eliminate Rajiv. On March 2 this year, the high court division bench of Justice Anjana Prakash and Justice Rajendra Kumar Mishra granted bail to Shahabuddin in connection with the killing of Girish and Satish. Shahabuddin's counsel Giri had argued that the name of his client was added in the murder case after 62 months of the incident and pleaded his non-involvement in the case. The former MP has been languishing in jail for the last 11 years in connection with various cases, including murder, kidnapping, theft, violation of the foreign exchange Act and treason. In the last 10 years, Shahabuddin was twice transferred out of Siwan jail, for a few months each time, to the Bhagalpur and Gaya jails. He was convicted for the first time on May 8, 2007, on charges of abduction and killing of CPI(ML) worker Chhote Lal Gupta in February 1999. Shahabuddin's name, most notoriously, figured in the murder of former JNU president Chandrashekhar, who was shot dead in Siwan on March 31, 1997. He was earlier granted bail for illegal possession of mobile phones and related equipment in jail by a Siwan court. During the Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi era, Shahabuddin ran a parallel administration in Siwan right from the 1990s till 2005 when President's rule was clamped in Bihar. The district gained notoriety not only for murders and abductions, but also for the iron hand Shahabuddin had used to deal with his political opponents and foes. Not a single poster of any Opposition leader was visible when he contested elections. He decided the fees doctors would charge from patients. He would hold Kangaroo courts to decide disputes in Siwan. He was charged with opening fire on the SP of Siwan. The Bihar and UP police fought a gunbattle with him and his men in his native village, leading to the death of 10 persons, including two policemen.