CBI takes custody of ex-RJD MP Shahabuddin

The CBI on Monday took custody of former RJD MP Mohammed Shahabuddin in connection with the murder of Bihar-based journalist Rajdeo Ranjan, an official said.Shahabuddin is now lodged in the Tihar Jail here.

The former MP was on May 26 named one of the 10 accused in the murder of Ranjan, who hailed from Bihar's Siwan district, by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The CBI is preparing to file a chargesheet on the basis of evidence collected by it, official sources said.

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 deepened after names of two of his henchmen, Mohammad Kaif and Mohammad Javed, surfaced during investigation.

A chargesheet has been filed against six of the accused. Javed and Kaif are on bail and Shahabuddin has been made the 10th accused.

Police in Bihar had earlier claimed that the murder was the result of "premediated conspiracy".

The sources claimed that the slain journalist had become a "threat" for criminals because of his news reports against the deteriorating law and order condition in Siwan.

Shahabuddin was in jail when the journalist was gunned down in Siwan while returning from office on May 13, 2016.

Shahabuddin, facing 39 criminal cases including those of kidnapping and murder, was shifted to Tihar Jail on February 18.