[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n my previous edition, I highlighted the criminal activities of criminal don turned politician Shahbuddin. In this edition, let’s explore his political journey, which sees upstairs with the help of Lalu Prasad Yadav until Nitish Kumar snatched the CM post from the former. Shahbuddin has committed many political murders, whosoever tried to fight against him in elections.
In the early 1990s, Shahabuddin came into political limelight, joining the Janata Dal 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. With Lalu Prasad holding sway over the then state government of Bihar, and the formation of the Rashtriya Janata Dal in 1997, Shahabuddin’s power increased dramatically.
The patronage and defacto immunity from legal action offered to him by the RJD government gradually made him a law unto himself giving 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 was so complete that nobody dared to depose against him in cases. Shahabuddin became extremely arrogant against the police and other govt. bodies, slapping and shooting policemen at will. 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.
In the extensive fire exchange that followed, two policemen and eight others were killed, with three AK-47s 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 run-up to the 2004 elections.
In late 2003, eight months before the 2004 general elections, Shahabuddin was arrested on charges of abducting a CPI(ML) worker in 1999, who was never seen again. Instead of staying in prison, he managed to get himself shifted to the Siwan hospital on medical grounds. There, a complete floor was set aside for him to meet party workers, organizing political meeting etc. His bodyguards were there to check people before entering on the floor. 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. On the request of one petitioner, he called up a minister in Delhi. Another petitioner, wishing to resolve a land dispute, gifted ‘rifle’ to him inside the prison.
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 Court 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.
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 Chhote Lal, the dead body was never recovered, so charges of murder could not be upheld. Justice Gyaneshwar Srivastava sentenced him to life imprisonment under Section 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. Thus, he was barred from the 2009 elections. 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.
Following the last State assembly election in Bihar in 2015 and the comeback of RJD, the case against Shahabuddin further weakened. It is not surprise that RJD which won 80 seats while JDU got only 71 seats, former has greater influence in politics and administrative affairs. Earlier to his bail, one of the ministers from RJD quota met Shahabuddin in jail. Shahabuddin walked out of the Bhagalpur Special Central Jail. Moments after coming out of jail, he jabbed at Nitish Kumar, the person under whose term and directions, he was sent to jail. Though, Shahabuddin said neither was Nitish instrumental in sending him to jail nor did he help him in securing bail.
Let’s see how ‘Sushashan Babu’ will deal with this Kushashan leader and criminal, who will be back in state politics after some time and will remain stainless forever.
Input from agencies
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