Patna: In Bihar, Charges have been filed against former MP Mohammad Shahabuddin and seven others in connection with the murder case of Siwan-based journalist Rajdev Ranjan. The next hearing has been scheduled for February 12. Last year, The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed charge sheet against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Shahabuddin in the murder case. Rajdeo was shot down in Siwan as he was returning from office on May 13, 2016.
The CBI had last year filed a charge sheet against all of them in a Muzaffarpur court. The other named in the charge sheet are Laddan Mian alias Azharuddin Beg, Rishu Kumar Jaiswal, Rohit Kumar Soni, Vijay Kumar Gupta, Rajesh Kumar and Sonu Kumar Gupta. The former MP and other accused have been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) and 302 (punishment for murder) as well as section 34 of the Arms Act.
However, Shahabuddin has claimed to be in jail when the incident took place but later refused to undergo a 'lie-detection' test. He also supposedly gave conflicting versions during interrogation. Shahabuddin has more than 39 criminal cases including kidnapping and murder. He was transferred to Tihar jail on February 18 last year.
also read India to become world's second largest steel producing country, after China
Incident was, Ranjan, the Siwan town bureau chief for a Hindi daily Hindustan was shot dead in July 2016 at Phal Mandi near the town station. Two bullets had pierced through Ranjan- one on the forehead and the other on the neck.
