The Bihar government will reportedly move the Supreme Court to withdraw bail granted to former RJD legislator and Siwan strongman Mohammad Shahabuddin who was released from jail after 11 years last week. Shahabuddin is facing over 40 criminal cases, including those of murder, extortion and kidnapping.
Of the most notorious case he was involved in was Rajiv Roshan's death; Roshan was a prime witness in the death of his two brothers. The family of Roshan and other victims said they were living in fear now that Shahabuddin was out of jail.
JD (U) spokesperson Ajay Alok, in an interview with Times Now news channel, said the government will be seeking withdrawal of bail to the former legislator.
The Bihar government said there will be no compromise in cases against the criminal, who is a close aide of Nitish Kumar's ally Lalu Prasad Yadav. His release was believed to be a show of strength by Prasad, whose RJD is in an alliance with Kumar's JD (U) in Bihar
The state government will leave no stones unturned when preparing airtight cases against his release in the apex court, sources were quoted as saying by NDTV.
Shahabuddin is serving two life sentences in murder cases while other cases pending against him are still under trial. However, that did not stop him from contesting or winning elections in Bihar.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is the opposition and was a close contender in Bihar Assembly elections in 2015, has dubbed his release as "return of jungle raaj." The party filed its petition with the state government over Shahabuddin's release, NDTV reported.
The former RJD lawmaker, when he walked out of jail, verbally attacked Kumar, implying that his loyalties lie strictly with Prasad and no other. As the chief minister of Bihar and when in alliance with the BJP, Kumar repeatedly pursued cases against Shahabuddin.
