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Shibu Soren, 62, is a tribal leader and represents the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, a regional party and ally of the ruling Congress Party.

He was re-appointed to the government in November 2004, four months after he quit after being charged of inciting arson and violence during a tribal protest in 1975.

He had evaded arrest for more than two weeks after
an arrest warrant was issued in 2004 and then turned himself in to police. He got out on bail later and then rejoined the government.

He quit the government again in 2005 to become chief minister of Jharkhand but the state government fell within days and Soren returned
to the central government as Coal Minister.

He was taken into custody on Tuesday after a New Delhi court convicted him in a conspiracy to kidnap and murder his former private secretary 12 years ago. Soren was asked to resign from the cabinet by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh soon after the news broke.

Soren, who had pleaded not guilty, was present in the court when the verdict was read and was led away by policemen amid a large crowd of media and supporters.

The victim, Shashi Nath Jha, had gone missing in May 1994
and his body was later found in Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand, Soren's home state.