Charge framed against Shahabuddin, 7 others in scribe’s murder case

The CBI had filed a charge sheet against Shahabuddin and others on August 11, 2017. Rajdeo was shot dead in Siwan as he was returning from office on May 13, 2016.

A special CBI court in Muzaffarpur on Tuesday framed charges against former RJD MP from Siwan Mohammed Shahabuddin and seven others in connection with the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan. The next hearing has been scheduled for February 12.

former RJD MP from Siwan Mohammed Shahabuddin (GT File)

With the framing of charges, special CBI judge Manoj Kumar has paved the way for trial.

Besides Shahabuddin, charges were framed against Mohammad Azharuddin Beg alias Laddan Mian, Vijay Kumar Gupta, Rohit Kumar Soma, Rajesh Kumar, Rishu Kumar Jaiswal, Sonu Kumar Gupta and Sonu Kumar Soni.

A four-time MP from Siwan, Shahabuddin is currently lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi, while Laddan Mian is in Bhagalpur central jail. The court had issued production warrant against both the accused seeking their appearance before it from Tihar and Bhagalpur jails through video conferencing.

The CBI had filed a charge sheet against Shahabuddin and others on August 11, 2017. Rajdeo was shot dead in Siwan as he was returning from office on May 13, 2016.

Shahabuddin had claimed that he was in jail when the incident took place.He had refused to undergo a ‘lie-detection’ test. He also allegedly gave conflicting versions during interrogation.

Shahabuddin has more than 39 criminal cases, including kidnapping and murder, against him. He was transferred to Tihar jail on February 18, 2017.