A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Friday named former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP and Siwan strongman Mohammad Shahabuddin as an accused in the murder case of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan. The CBI is also likely to file a charge-sheet against him.
Facing trial in more than 45 criminal cases, the four-time RJD MP from Siwan was shifted to the Tihar Jail in February this year following a Supreme Court order on the pleas by Chandrakeshwar Prasad, whose three young sons were allegedly killed by Shahabuddin’s henchmen in separate incidents, and Asha Ranjan, wife of slain journalist Rajdeo Ranjan.
Shahabuddin was produced on Friday in the court of CBI special judge Anupam Kumari in Muzaffarpur through video conferencing facility. The jailed RJD leader has been named as the tenth accused in the journalist Rajdeo Ranjan murder case. The court fixed June 9 as the next date of hearing.
The CBI, sources said, has submitted a 51-page investigation report detailing Shahabuddin’s involvement in the murder of Siwan journalist Rajdeo Ranjan to the special court. The investigating agency has already filed a charge-sheet against seven accused in the case, while two others — Mohammad Javed and Mohammad Kaif — have been granted bail by the court as the CBI had failed to file a formal charge-sheet against them within 90 days.
Rajdeo Ranjan, in his early forties, was district bureau chief of a Hindi daily in Siwan for over two decades. He was gunned down on May 13 last year near the Siwan Railway Station when he was returning home from office. His wife Asha Ranjan, a school teacher, had accused Shahabuddin in the killing of her husband and demanded a CBI inquiry into the murder case.
