On a day the Supreme Court directed the CBI to submit a status report by October 17 on the probe into the murder of Siwan-based journalist Rajdeo Ranjan by men allegedly close to RJD leader Mohammad Shahabuddin, the agency on Friday launched an operation to locate Mohammed Javed, another suspect in the case.
Hearing an appeal filed by the slain scribe’s widow, who has sought a transfer of the case trial from Siwan to Delhi, a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and C Nagappan directed the Bihar Police to provide the petitioner’s family protection. The court issued notice to Shahabuddin and RJD chief lalu Prasad’s son & Bihar’s Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav for their response to the charge of political patronage enjoyed by the perpetrators of the crime who were seen with the two leaders at a time when the police declared them absconders.
The widow, while seeking protection for herself and her two minor daughters, told the court that enough is said about criminalisation of politics but little is being done to assure the victims free and fair justice. Presenting her story as a classic case that demonstrates this fact, petitioner Asha Ranjan’s counsel said that her husband’s killer Mohammad Kaif and Mohammad Javed have not been arrested since the day of the crime on May 13, 2016.
Though police have declared them as absconders, they are very much visible in the corridors of power getting photographed with Shahabuddin on his release from jail on September 7 and yet again posing with Tej Pratap Yadav.
The petitioner pointed out that even though the CBI took over the investigation of the case on May 16, nothing has moved forward due to the “terror of Shahabuddin”. Although one of the accused Mohammad Kaif surrendered a few days ago, his accomplice is still at large. Despite the petitioner naming Shahabuddin as the principal accused, the FIR failed to mention the same.
The SC said, “Sometimes, situations are created by certain powerful protagonists which instill fear in the mind of a citizen and that fear has the potentiality to usher in atrophy to the sense of dignity.” The court directed the Siwan Superintendent of Police and SHO of the local police station to ensure protection to the victim’s family and sought response from the Bihar Government, Shahabuddin, Tej Pratap Yadav and the CBI by October 17.
Prime suspect Mohammed Kaif is in judicial custody after he surrendered in a Siwan court on Wednesday. Shahabuddin will be represented by senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani before the Supreme Court. Jethmalani is also a Rajya Sabha member of the RJD from Bihar.
The CBI, which started probe last week, has set up a camp office in Siwan where relatives of Javed were called to locate the alleged sharpshooter, agency sources said. The teams have also visited the residence of Javed and were looking for him at a number of other locations. A special team of forensic experts from CFSl will soon be reaching Siwan in connection with the ongoing probe.
It has been four months since the murder and they will use the expertise of CFSl to recreate crime scene and pick up minute pieces of information and evidence as well as analyse the evidence collected by the local police. Agency sources said the team is about to leave for Siwan very soon and will have some of the best hands to ensure that the case is solved as quickly as possible. The CBI had registered a case in the murder on September 15 against unknown assailants.
Reacting to the apex court’s notice, Tej Pratap said in Patna that similar notices should have been issued against BJP leaders also whose photographs had appeared with a suspect in the case and other criminals.