Mohammad Shahabuddin
Encyclopedia
Mohammad Shahabuddin is one of India
's most powerful criminal-politicians and also known as robinhood for his good deeds. Four times Member of Parliament
from Siwan
, Bihar
, with the Rashtriya Janata Dal
(RJD) party of Lalu Prasad Yadav
, and 2-time MLA in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly), he is currently serving a life sentence for kidnapping with intent to murder. Because of this conviction, he was not permitted to contest in the 2009 general election
. He is also under trial in more than thirty criminal cases including eight of murder, twenty of attempted murder, as well as kidnapping, extortion, etc.
Shahabuddin was elected to four successive terms in the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha
) from 1996-2008. In the 2009 general election
, the RJD party had put up his wife Hena Shahab
from Siwan constituency
in Bihar, but his long-time opponent, Om Prakash Yadav
, defeated her by 63,000 votes (9%).
In 2004, Shahabuddin's opponents were intimidated from campaigning even though he was in prison during the elections.
Immediately after the election, which he won by a margin of 100,000 votes (16%), nine party workers of the nearest candidate, Om Prakash Yadav
of Janata Dal (United)
, were found murdered, allegedly for daring to put up a credible fight.
He has been winning Lok Sabha elections from Siwan since 1996, prior to which he was elected twice to the Bihar Legislative Assembly (1990 and 1995). Few opponents dare campaign publicly for fear; in addition, he is widely believed to have rigged many polling stations in the past. As a leading member of the RJD party headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav, he is part of the ruling United Progressive Alliance
government of Manmohan Singh
.
In May 2007, Shahabuddin was found guilty in a case of "kidnapping with intent to murder", and he was sentenced to life imprisonment
. This may mean that he would be unable to stand for any subsequent elections.
Shahabuddin holds a Master of Arts
in Political Science
, and a Ph.D., possibly from the B.R. Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur
.
(CPI-ML) and the Bharatiya Janata Party
.
The first criminal case against Shahabuddin was filed in 1986. Since then, Shahabuddin has accumulated an extensive criminal record, primarily in the Hussain Ganj police station at Siwan, where he is listed as a "history sheeter type A" (a hardened criminal with a history of crime). Type A is taken to indicate criminals who are beyond reform.
youth wing under Lalu Prasad Yadav
. He won the 1990 and 1995 elections to the Vidhan Sabha (state legislative assembly), and was elected to the Lok Sabha
in 1996 on the JD ticket, after which he grew in stature.
In 1996, Shahabuddin was named as a Minister of State for the Home Ministry (which oversees law and order) in the H.D. Deve Gowda government, but he had to be dropped after the media highlighted his criminal background.
With Lalu Prasad continuing at the state government, and the formation of the Rashtriya Janata Dal
in 1997, Shahabuddin's power increased dramatically.
A report by the People's Union for Civil Liberties
in 2001 states:
In March 2001 the police were executing a warrant on Mr. Manoj Kumar "Pappu", the president of the local RJD unit, when Shahabuddin objected and slapped the arresting officer Sanjiv Kumar, while his men beat up the police.
The police then re-grouped in strength and a pitched battle was launched on Shahabuddin's house, with help being sought from other police units in the vicinity, including one from Uttar Pradesh
.
In the extensive fire exchange that followed, two policemen and eight others were killed, with three AK-47
s and other weapons being found near several of the deceased. Shahabuddin and his men escaped, setting fire to three police jeeps, and firing continuously to cover their movements. Neither Shahabuddin nor Manoj Kumar could be arrested. After this episode, several more cases were filed against Shahabuddin; however he could not be arrested.
By the early 2000s, Shahabuddin was running a parallel administration in Siwan, holding "kangaroo courts" to settle family and land disputes, fixing doctors’ consultancy fees, and arbitrating on marital problems.
Vivid descriptions of Shahabuddin's style of operation were reported in the media in the runup to the 2004 elections.
Although the elections saw little activity by the opposition - every shop carried a photograph of the Saheb, and according to a BBC report:
In fact, several phone booth owners and other businessmen were killed after putting up banners or posters of opponents.
A few days before the election, the Patna High Court
directed the state government to ensure that Shahabuddin was properly jailed, instead of the hospital floor.
During the elections, largescale rigging and booth capturing were reported from as many as 500 polling stations
and re-polling was ordered by the autonomous election conducting body, Election Commission of India
.
were announced, it turned out that although Shahabuddin won comfortably, his nearest Janata Dal (United)
opponent, Om Prakash Yadav had managed to get two lakh votes, about 33.5% of the electorate. In the 1999 elections, JD(U) had polled only 7.5% of the vote, so this was a huge gain for them.
Within days of these results being announced, nine party workers of the Janata Dal (United)
were killed, and a large number were beaten up; it is widely believed that this was a retaliation for daring to put up a credible fight.
Harendra Kushawaha, the mukhia (chief of Panchayat or village council) of the Bhanta Pokhar village where Om Prakash Yadav had a strong majority, was shot dead at a government office.
After several bullets were fired at Om Prakash Yadav's house, the civil authorities assigned him a posse of eight armed policemen as bodyguards.
Well after the elections, a case was filed against Shahabuddin that he had lied in his electoral declaration; whereas he had said he had been named in 19 cases, at the time, there were 34 cases pending against him.
In April 2005, a police raid led by S.P. Ratna Sanjay with the support of D.M. C. K. Anil on Shahabuddin's house in Pratappur revealed illegal arms such as AK-47
s, and other military weaponry authorized
for possession only by the army, including night-vision goggles, Laser-guided
guns, etc. Some of the arms had the markings of Pakistan
ordinance factories, and the then Chief of Police (DGP), Bihar, D.P. Ojha alleged in a report that Shahabuddin had ties with the Pakistan intelligence agency
Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI).
Subsequently,
eight non-bailable warrants were issued for arresting Shahabuddin.
However, his party was part of the United Progressive Alliance
headed by Manmohan Singh
, and clearly he had considerable clout. Thus, although he was living in his official assigned quarter in Delhi, and attending parliament, the Delhi police and a special team sent from Bihar could not arrest him for over three months. However, a team from Bihar, without informing anyone, was finally able to arrest him from his official residence in New Delhi
in November 2005. Subsequently, he was refused bail by the Supreme Court of India
, where he was asked at one point:
's National Democratic Alliance
government set up a number of special courts for trying criminal-dons including Suraj Bhan Singh MP, and MP Prabhunath Singh
from Nitish Kumar's own party, Janata Dal (United)
.
However, Shahabuddin claimed to have suffered a slipped disc, and was not in a position to appear in court. Medical reports however, indicated that he was fit to walk.
In any event, two special courts were set up inside Siwan Jail to try the cases pending against him.
There were more than thirty criminal cases pending, including eight of murder, and 20 of attempted murder, kidnapping, extortion, etc. Of these, charges were initially framed in eight cases.
Besides these police-registered cases, many other crimes are unreported. These include a large number of "disappearances" from Siwan; reports in the media allege that as many as a hundred bodies may be buried on the grounds of Shahabuddin's well-fortified Pratappur palace, the venue where the entire Bihar state police had to retreat after a fierce firefight while attempting to serve a warrant in 2001 (the three policemen killed in this battle also figure in the list of cases against him).
ordered that a charge be registered
against the lawyer Mahtab Alam.
In August 2006, while undergoing treatment in New Delhi
, some supporters of Shahabuddin were prevented from entering by the Assistant Jailor of Patna's Beur Jail Vashisht Rai, then on deputation at the ward in AIIMS. Apparently Shahabuddin told Rai:
Early in May 2007, the RJD central minister Md Ali Ashraf Fatmi came to Siwan jail to meet Shahabuddin. However, Shahabuddin wanted the meeting in his jail cell, and not in the visitor's area, which is against jail rules. When this was not permitted by jail officials, Fatmi left. Shahabuddin then threatened sub-inspector DK Pandey in court:
The very next day, he again threatened
jailor Sanjeev Kumar:
Both these incidents were formally registered as First Information Report
s under the code relating to criminal intimidation, and deterring a public servant from discharge of his duty.
, who killed his opponent Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) politician Krishanand Rai and is now occupying that Ghazipur
seat, is commonly referred to as "the Shahabuddin of UP".
Consequently, the Nitish Kumar
government felt it important to bring some convictions against this noted criminal, thus re-inforcing its clean image.
Mohammad Shahabuddin to two years imprisonment for the assault on the CPI-ML offices in Siwan on September 19, 1998. Shahabuddin and his armed supporters had bombed the premises and assaulted office secretary Keshav Baitha, who was brutally beaten up and suffered splinter injuries from the bomb blast. The court has also fined him Rs 1,000 (about USD 20. Indian fines follow antiquated law
s, and are often very paltry in today's terms).
While it could be established that Shahabuddin with his gang had kidnapped Chhotelal (an witness could identify him), the dead body was never recovered, so charges of murder could not be upheld. Justice Gyaneshwar Srivastava sentenced him to life imprisonment
under Article 164 (abduction with intent to murder).
The verdict has been challenged in Patna
High Court; some of the points noted are that the conviction relied on a lone witness, who identified Shahabuddin in court, after a gap of seven years, without the benefit of a prior identification parade.
Under Indian law (section 8(3) of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951), a person is disqualified from contesting elections if sentenced for more than two years. However, Bihar Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah has stated that this conviction needs to be after all appeals are exhausted, but it is likely that the Election Commission may have considerable latitude in this matter.
Thus he may be barred from the 2009 elections; however, he continues to be a member of the present Parliament.
Subsequently he has been convicted in a number of other criminal cases, including a ten years rigorous imprisonment for attempted murder on the then Superintendent of Police, S.K. Singhal, in 1996.
:
In addition, charges are yet to be taken up in another 23 cases.
Simultaneously cases are also under trial in other parts of the country, including a triple murder case in Jamshedpur.
One of the important trials is in regard to the abduction and murder of CPI-ML activist Munna Choudhary in 2001, in which witness Rajkumar Sharma, himself a criminal, has surrendered to the police, and is said to have recorded a statement identifying Shahabuddin:
If Sharma stands by this testimony, perhaps more verdicts will be coming up against Shahabuddin (witnesses are often bumped off, even inside court premises, or may be induced to change their statements, e.g., see the Manu Sharma
or Sanjeev Nanda
trials).
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
's most powerful criminal-politicians and also known as robinhood for his good deeds. Four times Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
from Siwan
Siwan
Siwan may refer to* Sivan, a month of the Hebrew calendar* Siwan, Xichuan County , a town in Xichuan County, Henan, China* Siwan District, in the state of Bihar, India* Siwan, Bihar, the headquarters of the district...
, Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, with the Rashtriya Janata Dal
Rashtriya Janata Dal
The Rashtriya Janata Dal is a political party in India, based in the state of Bihar. The party was founded in 1997 by Laloo Prasad Yadav. The party came about as a result of Lalu Prasad Yadav, ex-president of Janata Dal, being evicted by Sharad Yadav, the then president, on corruption charges ...
(RJD) party of Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav is an Indian politician from Bihar. He was the Minister of Railways from 2004 to 2009 in the ruling United Progressive Alliance government, and the President of the Rashtriya Janata Dal political party...
, and 2-time MLA in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly), he is currently serving a life sentence for kidnapping with intent to murder. Because of this conviction, he was not permitted to contest in the 2009 general election
Indian general election, 2009
India held general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009. With an electorate of 714 million , it was the largest democratic election in the world to date.By constitutional requirement, elections to the Lok Sabha must be...
. He is also under trial in more than thirty criminal cases including eight of murder, twenty of attempted murder, as well as kidnapping, extortion, etc.
Shahabuddin was elected to four successive terms in the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
) from 1996-2008. In the 2009 general election
Indian general election, 2009
India held general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009. With an electorate of 714 million , it was the largest democratic election in the world to date.By constitutional requirement, elections to the Lok Sabha must be...
, the RJD party had put up his wife Hena Shahab
Hena Shahab
Hena Shahab is the wife of India's most notorious criminal-politician, Mohammad Shahabuddin. In the Indian general elections, 2009, she was put up from her husband's Siwan by the RJD party, but she lost by 63,000 votes to long time opponent Om Prakash Yadav...
from Siwan constituency
Siwan (Lok Sabha Constituency)
-Assembly segments:* Siwan* Ziradei* Darauli* Raghunathpur* Daraunda* Barharia-Members of Parliament:*1977: Mirtanjay Prasad Verma, Bharatiya Lok Dal*1980: M...
in Bihar, but his long-time opponent, Om Prakash Yadav
Om Prakash Yadav
Om Prakash Yadav is an Indian politician from Bihar. In the Indian General Election, 2009, he was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from...
, defeated her by 63,000 votes (9%).
In 2004, Shahabuddin's opponents were intimidated from campaigning even though he was in prison during the elections.
Immediately after the election, which he won by a margin of 100,000 votes (16%), nine party workers of the nearest candidate, Om Prakash Yadav
Om Prakash Yadav
Om Prakash Yadav is an Indian politician from Bihar. In the Indian General Election, 2009, he was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from...
of Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal is a political party in India with political presence mainly in Bihar and Jharkhand. Janta Dal party mentor and patron is "Veteran Socialist leader" George Fernandes; George Fernandes broke away from the erstwhile Janata Dal and formed the Samata Party in 1994. Presently it is led...
, were found murdered, allegedly for daring to put up a credible fight.
He has been winning Lok Sabha elections from Siwan since 1996, prior to which he was elected twice to the Bihar Legislative Assembly (1990 and 1995). Few opponents dare campaign publicly for fear; in addition, he is widely believed to have rigged many polling stations in the past. As a leading member of the RJD party headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav, he is part of the ruling United Progressive Alliance
United Progressive Alliance
The United Progressive Alliance is a ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the government of India. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha...
government of Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
.
In May 2007, Shahabuddin was found guilty in a case of "kidnapping with intent to murder", and he was sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. This may mean that he would be unable to stand for any subsequent elections.
Shahabuddin holds a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, and a Ph.D., possibly from the B.R. Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur
Muzaffarpur
Muzaffarpur Town is a town in Muzaffarpur district in the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of Muzaffarpur district and Tirhut division....
.
Personal life
Md. Shahabuddin is married with Hena sheikh and has a son (Osama) and two daughters (Tasleem and Herah).Criminal career
Shahabuddin came into the criminal-political limelight while at college in the 1980s; he came to be known for his daredevil fighting and his opposition to the growing reach of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
The Communist Party of India was formed by the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries at a congress in Calcutta in 1969. The foundation of the party was declared by Kanu Sanyal at a mass-meeting in Calcutta on the 22nd of April .-History:CPI advocated armed revolution and...
(CPI-ML) and the Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
.
The first criminal case against Shahabuddin was filed in 1986. Since then, Shahabuddin has accumulated an extensive criminal record, primarily in the Hussain Ganj police station at Siwan, where he is listed as a "history sheeter type A" (a hardened criminal with a history of crime). Type A is taken to indicate criminals who are beyond reform.
Political career
In the early 1990s, Shahabuddin came into the political limelight, joining the Janata DalJanata Dal
Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Congress, and the Jan Morcha led by V. P...
youth wing under Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav is an Indian politician from Bihar. He was the Minister of Railways from 2004 to 2009 in the ruling United Progressive Alliance government, and the President of the Rashtriya Janata Dal political party...
. He won the 1990 and 1995 elections to the Vidhan Sabha (state legislative assembly), and was elected to the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
in 1996 on the JD ticket, after which he grew in stature.
In 1996, Shahabuddin was named as a Minister of State for the Home Ministry (which oversees law and order) in the H.D. Deve Gowda government, but he had to be dropped after the media highlighted his criminal background.
With Lalu Prasad continuing at the state government, and the formation of the Rashtriya Janata Dal
Rashtriya Janata Dal
The Rashtriya Janata Dal is a political party in India, based in the state of Bihar. The party was founded in 1997 by Laloo Prasad Yadav. The party came about as a result of Lalu Prasad Yadav, ex-president of Janata Dal, being evicted by Sharad Yadav, the then president, on corruption charges ...
in 1997, Shahabuddin's power increased dramatically.
A report by the People's Union for Civil Liberties
People's Union for Civil Liberties
People's Union for Civil Liberties is a human rights body formed in India in 1976 by socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, as the People's Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights .-The indian emergency:...
in 2001 states:
- The patronage and defacto immunity from legal action offered to him by the RJD government gradually made him a law unto himself and gave him an aura of invincibility. Since the police turned a blind eye to his criminal activities and allowed him to turn Siwan district into his fiefdom where his fiat ran.... Shahabuddin's reign of terror has been so complete that nobody dared depose against him in cases in which he was an accused.
Police-Shahabuddin firefight (March 2001)
Shahabuddin became extremely arrogant against the police and other bodies, slapping police officers and even shooting at them.In March 2001 the police were executing a warrant on Mr. Manoj Kumar "Pappu", the president of the local RJD unit, when Shahabuddin objected and slapped the arresting officer Sanjiv Kumar, while his men beat up the police.
The police then re-grouped in strength and a pitched battle was launched on Shahabuddin's house, with help being sought from other police units in the vicinity, including one from Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
.
In the extensive fire exchange that followed, two policemen and eight others were killed, with three AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
s and other weapons being found near several of the deceased. Shahabuddin and his men escaped, setting fire to three police jeeps, and firing continuously to cover their movements. Neither Shahabuddin nor Manoj Kumar could be arrested. After this episode, several more cases were filed against Shahabuddin; however he could not be arrested.
By the early 2000s, Shahabuddin was running a parallel administration in Siwan, holding "kangaroo courts" to settle family and land disputes, fixing doctors’ consultancy fees, and arbitrating on marital problems.
Vivid descriptions of Shahabuddin's style of operation were reported in the media in the runup to the 2004 elections.
2004 elections, fought from prison)
In late 2003, eight months before the 2004 general elections, Shahabuddin was arrested on charges of kidnapping a CPI(ML) worker in 1999, who was then never seen again. Instead of staying in prison, he managed to get shifted to the Siwan hospital on medical grounds, and where a complete floor was set aside for him. Here he conducted meetings organizing his elections, and anyone could walk in to meet him, subject to checks by his bodyguards. Every afternoon at four, he held audience for his subjects, who arrived to meet their Saheb (boss), and to get their problems resolved. One petitioner turned out to be a policeman seeking a promotion; Sahabuddin called up the police bosses on his mobile phone and arranged things on the spot. For another petitioner, he called up a minister in Delhi. Another petitioner, wishing to resolve a land dispute, brought him a rifle as a gift, right there in his prison.Although the elections saw little activity by the opposition - every shop carried a photograph of the Saheb, and according to a BBC report:
- There is almost no sign of the opposition campaigning in the constituency. One villager, pleading that his identity should not be disclosed, said: "Do you want to get us hanged by telling you what we feel about elections here and who we would like to vote for?"
In fact, several phone booth owners and other businessmen were killed after putting up banners or posters of opponents.
A few days before the election, the Patna High Court
High Courts of India
India's unitary judicial system is made up of the Supreme Court of India at the national level, for the entire country and the 21 High Courts at the State level. These courts have jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories...
directed the state government to ensure that Shahabuddin was properly jailed, instead of the hospital floor.
During the elections, largescale rigging and booth capturing were reported from as many as 500 polling stations
and re-polling was ordered by the autonomous election conducting body, Election Commission of India
Election Commission of India
The Election Commission of India is an autonomous, quasi-judiciary constitutional body of India. Its mission is to conduct free and fair elections in India...
.
Results and aftermath
When the election resultsSiwan (Lok Sabha Constituency)
-Assembly segments:* Siwan* Ziradei* Darauli* Raghunathpur* Daraunda* Barharia-Members of Parliament:*1977: Mirtanjay Prasad Verma, Bharatiya Lok Dal*1980: M...
were announced, it turned out that although Shahabuddin won comfortably, his nearest Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal is a political party in India with political presence mainly in Bihar and Jharkhand. Janta Dal party mentor and patron is "Veteran Socialist leader" George Fernandes; George Fernandes broke away from the erstwhile Janata Dal and formed the Samata Party in 1994. Presently it is led...
opponent, Om Prakash Yadav had managed to get two lakh votes, about 33.5% of the electorate. In the 1999 elections, JD(U) had polled only 7.5% of the vote, so this was a huge gain for them.
Within days of these results being announced, nine party workers of the Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal is a political party in India with political presence mainly in Bihar and Jharkhand. Janta Dal party mentor and patron is "Veteran Socialist leader" George Fernandes; George Fernandes broke away from the erstwhile Janata Dal and formed the Samata Party in 1994. Presently it is led...
were killed, and a large number were beaten up; it is widely believed that this was a retaliation for daring to put up a credible fight.
Harendra Kushawaha, the mukhia (chief of Panchayat or village council) of the Bhanta Pokhar village where Om Prakash Yadav had a strong majority, was shot dead at a government office.
After several bullets were fired at Om Prakash Yadav's house, the civil authorities assigned him a posse of eight armed policemen as bodyguards.
Well after the elections, a case was filed against Shahabuddin that he had lied in his electoral declaration; whereas he had said he had been named in 19 cases, at the time, there were 34 cases pending against him.
Home arsenal (April 2005)
Despite being the elected representative of the region, he was barred from entering Siwan for many months in 2005, since he was perceived as a security threat.In April 2005, a police raid led by S.P. Ratna Sanjay with the support of D.M. C. K. Anil on Shahabuddin's house in Pratappur revealed illegal arms such as AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
s, and other military weaponry authorized
for possession only by the army, including night-vision goggles, Laser-guided
Laser guidance
Laser guidance is a technique of guiding a missile or other projectile or vehicle to a target by means of a laser beam. Some laser guided systems utilise beam riding guidance, but most operate more similarly to semi-active radar homing . This technique is sometimes called SALH, for Semi-Active...
guns, etc. Some of the arms had the markings of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
ordinance factories, and the then Chief of Police (DGP), Bihar, D.P. Ojha alleged in a report that Shahabuddin had ties with the Pakistan intelligence agency
Inter-Services Intelligence
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
(ISI).
Subsequently,
eight non-bailable warrants were issued for arresting Shahabuddin.
However, his party was part of the United Progressive Alliance
United Progressive Alliance
The United Progressive Alliance is a ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the government of India. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha...
headed by Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
, and clearly he had considerable clout. Thus, although he was living in his official assigned quarter in Delhi, and attending parliament, the Delhi police and a special team sent from Bihar could not arrest him for over three months. However, a team from Bihar, without informing anyone, was finally able to arrest him from his official residence in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
in November 2005. Subsequently, he was refused bail by the Supreme Court of India
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
, where he was asked at one point:
- By virtue of being an MP, are you entitled to keep these weapons, including a night vision device, when even the police, CRPF and other security agencies do not have it and only the army possesses it?
Criminal trials
In May 2006, Nitish KumarNitish Kumar
Nitish Kumār is an Indian politician currently serving as Chief Minister of Bihar, an eastern state of India. He leads the Janata Dal party...
's National Democratic Alliance
National Democratic Alliance (India)
The National Democratic Alliance is a centre-right coalition of political parties in India. At the time of its formation in 1998, it was led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and had thirteen constituent parties. Its convenor is Sharad Yadav, and its honorary chairman is former prime minister Atal...
government set up a number of special courts for trying criminal-dons including Suraj Bhan Singh MP, and MP Prabhunath Singh
Prabhunath Singh
Prabhunath Singh is a noted politician from Bihar, India, and was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Maharajganj of Bihar and is a member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal , political party of Lalu Prasad Yadav.According to the National Election Watch, Prabhunath Singh was...
from Nitish Kumar's own party, Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal is a political party in India with political presence mainly in Bihar and Jharkhand. Janta Dal party mentor and patron is "Veteran Socialist leader" George Fernandes; George Fernandes broke away from the erstwhile Janata Dal and formed the Samata Party in 1994. Presently it is led...
.
However, Shahabuddin claimed to have suffered a slipped disc, and was not in a position to appear in court. Medical reports however, indicated that he was fit to walk.
In any event, two special courts were set up inside Siwan Jail to try the cases pending against him.
There were more than thirty criminal cases pending, including eight of murder, and 20 of attempted murder, kidnapping, extortion, etc. Of these, charges were initially framed in eight cases.
Besides these police-registered cases, many other crimes are unreported. These include a large number of "disappearances" from Siwan; reports in the media allege that as many as a hundred bodies may be buried on the grounds of Shahabuddin's well-fortified Pratappur palace, the venue where the entire Bihar state police had to retreat after a fierce firefight while attempting to serve a warrant in 2001 (the three policemen killed in this battle also figure in the list of cases against him).
Attempts to intimidate the legal process
In July 2006, one of the session judges trying the cases, V.B. Gupta, was threatened by lawyer Mahtab Alam, who initially offered "allurements" for "rescuing" Shahabuddin. When this did not work, he threatened to eliminate the judge. Subsequently the Patna High CourtHigh Courts of India
India's unitary judicial system is made up of the Supreme Court of India at the national level, for the entire country and the 21 High Courts at the State level. These courts have jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories...
ordered that a charge be registered
First Information Report
A First Information Report or FIR is a written document prepared by the police in India, Pakistan and Japan when they receive information about the commission of a cognizable offence. It is a report of information that reaches the police first in point of time and that is why it is called the First...
against the lawyer Mahtab Alam.
In August 2006, while undergoing treatment in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, some supporters of Shahabuddin were prevented from entering by the Assistant Jailor of Patna's Beur Jail Vashisht Rai, then on deputation at the ward in AIIMS. Apparently Shahabuddin told Rai:
- Your family lives in Baniapur (near ChhabraChhabraChhabra is a city and a municipality in Baran district in the state of Rajasthan, India.very near to the border of Madhya Pradesh.-Geography:Chhabra is located at . It has an average elevation of 257 metres...
, Bihar). No one will survive.
Early in May 2007, the RJD central minister Md Ali Ashraf Fatmi came to Siwan jail to meet Shahabuddin. However, Shahabuddin wanted the meeting in his jail cell, and not in the visitor's area, which is against jail rules. When this was not permitted by jail officials, Fatmi left. Shahabuddin then threatened sub-inspector DK Pandey in court:
- Bahut din se tum logon ki pitai nahin hui hai. Bail hone do peet ke rakh denge (you people have not been beaten up for a long time. Let me come out on bail and I will thrash you)"
The very next day, he again threatened
jailor Sanjeev Kumar:
- Tadpa tadpa ke maarenge (I will torture you slowly to death).
Both these incidents were formally registered as First Information Report
First Information Report
A First Information Report or FIR is a written document prepared by the police in India, Pakistan and Japan when they receive information about the commission of a cognizable offence. It is a report of information that reaches the police first in point of time and that is why it is called the First...
s under the code relating to criminal intimidation, and deterring a public servant from discharge of his duty.
Convictions
Shahabuddin is possibly the most prominent criminal-politician in India today; his is the standard to which other criminal-politicians are compared. For instance, Mukhtar AnsariMukhtar Ansari
Mukhtar Ansari is an Indian politician from Maunath Bhanjan or Mau in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Most recently he won the Mau seat in the Uttar Pradesh Elections, 2007 as an Independent.He is one among many such criminal-politicians in Uttar Pradesh....
, who killed his opponent Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
(BJP) politician Krishanand Rai and is now occupying that Ghazipur
Ghazipur
Ghazipur , or Ghazipur City, previously spelt Ghazeepore, is a city/town and a municipal corporation and headquarter of Ghazipur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghazipur Division and Sub-division...
seat, is commonly referred to as "the Shahabuddin of UP".
Consequently, the Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumār is an Indian politician currently serving as Chief Minister of Bihar, an eastern state of India. He leads the Janata Dal party...
government felt it important to bring some convictions against this noted criminal, thus re-inforcing its clean image.
Two years for assault on CPI-ML office (Mar 2007)
In March 2007, Magistrate V V Gupta in a Siwan court (running inside the prison) sentencedMohammad Shahabuddin to two years imprisonment for the assault on the CPI-ML offices in Siwan on September 19, 1998. Shahabuddin and his armed supporters had bombed the premises and assaulted office secretary Keshav Baitha, who was brutally beaten up and suffered splinter injuries from the bomb blast. The court has also fined him Rs 1,000 (about USD 20. Indian fines follow antiquated law
Indian law
Law of India refers to the system of law in modern India. It is largely based on English common law because of the long period of British colonial influence during the period of the British Raj. Much of contemporary Indian law shows substantial European and American influence. Various legislation...
s, and are often very paltry in today's terms).
Life sentence for kidnapping leading to murder (May 2007)
In May 2007, he was convicted of the abduction of the trader and CPI(ML) worker, Chhote Lal Gupta, in February 1999, who was never seen thereafter and is widely presumed to have been killed.While it could be established that Shahabuddin with his gang had kidnapped Chhotelal (an witness could identify him), the dead body was never recovered, so charges of murder could not be upheld. Justice Gyaneshwar Srivastava sentenced him to life imprisonment
under Article 164 (abduction with intent to murder).
The verdict has been challenged in Patna
Patna
Paṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world...
High Court; some of the points noted are that the conviction relied on a lone witness, who identified Shahabuddin in court, after a gap of seven years, without the benefit of a prior identification parade.
Under Indian law (section 8(3) of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951), a person is disqualified from contesting elections if sentenced for more than two years. However, Bihar Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah has stated that this conviction needs to be after all appeals are exhausted, but it is likely that the Election Commission may have considerable latitude in this matter.
Thus he may be barred from the 2009 elections; however, he continues to be a member of the present Parliament.
Subsequently he has been convicted in a number of other criminal cases, including a ten years rigorous imprisonment for attempted murder on the then Superintendent of Police, S.K. Singhal, in 1996.
Pending cases
Meanwhile, other trials are progressing in eight other cases in Siwan where charges have been filed, these cover the following articles from the Indian Penal CodeIndian Penal Code
Indian Penal Code is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code, intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. It was drafted in 1860 and came into force in colonial India during the British Raj in 1862...
:
- 302 (murder),
- 307 (attempts to murder),
- 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder),
- 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person),
- 379 (punishment for theft),
- 147 (punishment for rioting),
- 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon) and
- 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means)
In addition, charges are yet to be taken up in another 23 cases.
Simultaneously cases are also under trial in other parts of the country, including a triple murder case in Jamshedpur.
One of the important trials is in regard to the abduction and murder of CPI-ML activist Munna Choudhary in 2001, in which witness Rajkumar Sharma, himself a criminal, has surrendered to the police, and is said to have recorded a statement identifying Shahabuddin:
- Sharma said on January 6, 2001, he was roaming around on a motorcycle with his friend Munna Chowdhary in Vishunpur village when Shahabuddin, accompanied by his goons Rama Chowdhary, Manoj Das, Jawahar Chowdhary, and Pappu Srivastava arrived in three separate cars and opened indiscriminate firing at them.
- One bullet struck the tire of the motorcycle causing them to hit the ground. Shahabuddin then fired one shot at Munna Chowdhary's leg and then dragged him into one of the vehicles and fled, Sharma told the police.
- "Later, I learnt that Munna was killed and dumped into an abandoned chimney," he said.
If Sharma stands by this testimony, perhaps more verdicts will be coming up against Shahabuddin (witnesses are often bumped off, even inside court premises, or may be induced to change their statements, e.g., see the Manu Sharma
Manu Sharma
Siddharth Vashisht , better known as Manu Sharma, is a convicted murderer, serving life imprisonment for the 1999 murder of model Jessica Lal. Sharma is the son of the former Indian minister Venod Sharma....
or Sanjeev Nanda
Sanjeev Nanda
Sanjeev Nanda is a businessman and the son of Suresh Nanda, an Indian arms dealer, head of the firm Crown Corporation and an ex-naval officer, implicated in a Tehelka expose. He is also the grandson of an ex-Chief of Naval Staff-turned businessman, S. M. Nanda from New Delhi...
trials).