Siwan District Magistrate Mahendra Kumar said: “The decision to shift him was taken on Wednesday night and he was moved out of Siwan jail for Bhagalpur early on Thursday amidst heavy security”.
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According to official sources, Shahabuddin’s cell was searched during the police raid.
Mr Shahabuddin is presently lodged in Siwan Divisional Jail and his ward was raided prior to questioning of the visitors in the jail.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have alleged that Shahabuddin had been pulling strings from his prison cell and had played a role in the killing of Rajdeo Ranjan.
Police have already arrested Upender Singh, an aide of Shahabuddin, and are likely to take him on remand to quiz him in connection with the killing. The police want to gather concrete evidence before pointing an accusing finger at Shahabuddin, who is serving life-term for his involvement in several abduction and murder cases.
Modi questioned the state government for lodging Shahabuddin in Siwan district jail when as per rules he should have been held at a central jail as he was convicted for more than five years by a court in a murder case.
He was elected four times as a Member of Parliament from Siwan as a member of Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) which is part of the ruling coalition in Bihar with Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Congress as other members.
The police is also trying to verify identity of those who visit former RJD MP Shahabuddin frequently in jail.
The RJD leader, cooling his heels behind bars, is suspected to be behind the killing of the journalist, though the police have so far refrained from directly naming him an accused in view of the RJD being a ruling alliance partner in Bihar.
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