Friday, Apr 26, 2024 | Last Update : 06:31 PM IST
‘Enough evidence against ex-MP’
CBI will file a charge sheet in the murder case of Siwan-based journalist Rajdeo Ranjan by August 15.
New Delhi: RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s protege Mohammad Shahabuddin is in for fresh trouble as the CBI is all set to file a charge sheet in the sensational murder case of Siwan-based journalist Rajdeo Ranjan by August 15. The agency, sources said, had collected sufficient evidence against Shahabuddin in the case.
“Statements of two witnesses are crucial in establishing his active role in hatching the conspiracy to eliminate the Siwan-based journalist,” said sources privy to the investigation.
They added, “Probe by the agency has revealed that Shahabuddin played a crucial role in the conspiracy hatched to kill the journalist. After he refused to undergo a ‘lie-detection’ test, it became quite evident that he was hiding facts related to the case.”
Also, he gave conflicting versions during custodial interrogation, sources said, adding that the agency had informed the special CBI court in Muzzafarpur about the development.
Shahabuddin was in jail when the journalist was gunned down in Siwan while he was returning from office on May 13, 2016.
Shahabuddin who is facing more than 39 criminal cases, including those of kidnapping and murder, was transferred to Tihar jail on February 18.
“The agency has sufficient evidence to prove that certain accused in the case were allegedly in constant touch with the arrested RJD leader. This will be mentioned in the charge sheet,” said sources.
A special court in Muzaffarpur recently named Shahabuddin as the tenth accused in the case. Now, the CBI was probing the role of jail officials who allegedly allowed the jailed RJD leader to remain in touch with the prime accused in the case, they added.
The case was handed over to the CBI in September last year after the slain journalist’s widow Asha Ranjan and his father Radhe Krishna Chaudhary repeatedly alleged that Shahabuddin was behind the murder. The suspicion over Shahbuddin’s involvement came to the fore after names of two of his henchmen, Mohammad Kaif and Mohammad Javed, surfaced in the case.
