Lalu Yadav partyman Mohammad Shahabuddin's bail cancelled by Supreme Court
Mohammad Shahabuddin, a controversial politician of Lalu Yadav's party in Bihar, was ordered back to jail today by the Supreme Court, after three weeks of freedom. He rode a bike to court and surrendered, unescorted by the impressive convoy of 100 cars that greeted his release on September 7.
"My supporters will teach (Nitish Kumar) a lesson in the next polls," he said before returning to prison in his hometown Siwan, over 140 km from state capital Patna, taking a swipe at the Chief Minister just as he had done when he was released; he had then called Mr Kumar a "chief minister of circumstances."
Shahabuddin, 49, is accused in over 40 cases of murder, extortion and kidnapping. When he was jailed in 2005, Nitish Kumar, then a BJP ally, was credited with ending what was widely described as the gangster-turned-politician's reign of terror.
Mr Kumar is now in an alliance with Shahabuddin's RJD or Rashtriya Janata Dal and has been confronting allegations that he gave in to pressure from Lalu Yadav.
A man whose three sons were allegedly killed on Shahabuddin's orders first challenged his bail. Days later, so did the state government, but that did not spare it the court's strong disapproval.
"Were you in slumber till he got bail?" the Supreme Court questioned the state government, which has been accused by the opposition of deliberately putting up a weak case against the don.
After one such court admonition earlier this week, Mr Kumar said there is "no place for dons in Bihar and if any such person is seen roaming free, he would have to go to jail."
Shahabuddin, who has been convicted and sentenced to a life term, was granted bail by the Patna High Court in the case involving the murder of Rajiv Roshan, the oldest son of businessman Chandrakeshwar Prashad. Rajiv was a witness to the murder in 2004 of his two brothers by a group of men who bathed them in acid.
Rajiv was shot dead in 2014. His father, urging the Supreme Court to cancel Shahabuddin's bail, cited a threat not just to his family, but also 35 ongoing trials, in which, he said, witnesses would be too scared to testify.
Over the past few days, Shahabuddin's public sightings with wanted criminals became a huge embarrassment for the ruling coalition.