Shahabuddin out on bail, says support for Lalu Yadav will continue as before

Patna: After spending more than a decade in jail, criminal-turned-politician Mohammad Shahbuddin was released on Saturday. Shahbuddin, who was facing trial in the murder case of eyewitness Rajiv Roshan, was granted bail by the Patna High Court on Wednesday.

Dismissing allegations by BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi that the grand secular alliance government paved way for his release from the jail, he said, “Such allegations are baseless. Judiciary granted bail to me, not the government. Everyone knows that charges against me were false and now the court has released me.”

His release also turned out to be a mega show of strength as political leaders from the RJD gathered outside the jail premises along with their supporters to greet him. Sources claimed that more than 100 SUVs and cars had reached Bhagalpur to escort him back to Siwan.

Indicating a comeback in Bihar politics after his release from the jail, he took a dig at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by calling him, “Chief Minister of circumstances”. He said, “My support to Lalu Yadav will continue as before. As far as my comeback is concerned, I had never left politics.”

The former RJD MP was earlier declared by the state police department as Type A history-sheeter. He was arrested by the NDA government led by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in 2005 in connection with a murder case. He faces 39 criminal cases including those of kidnapping and murder.