Anand Mohan Sahay in Patna/Rediff
Patna, Aug 31: A special court in Siwan on Friday sentenced Rashtriya Janata Dal Member of Parliament Mohammad Shahabuddin to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment, a day after he was convicted in a case related to the murderous attack on then Siwan Superintendent of Police S K Singhal in 1996.
Public prosecutor Rambilas Mahto told rediff.com that the Gyaneshwar Srivastava, the session judge sentenced Shahabuddin to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment . "The court had found him guilty under Section 307 of IPC and sentenced him to ten years of rigorous imprisonment," Mahto said.
The court sentenced came as a major set back to Shahabuddin . Two of his bodyguards were also convicted in the case and sentenced to one year of imprisonment.
According to the FIR, the attack took place on May 3, 1996 when Shahabuddin was the Zeeradei MLA and Singhal was the Siwan SP. Singhal, after getting information about tension in Darauli Mathiya village, reached Darauli police station for investigation.
When Singhal was returning to Siwan, he saw four persons carrying arms at Done Bazaar. He sent his bodyguards to inquire. The moment the bodyguards reached the group, they escaped on a vehicle, provoking Singhal to chase, the sources said.
Police sources said as their vehicles reached near Dona Tola, another Maruti [Get Quote] car joined the chase and after sometime the occupants of both vehicles opened fire at Singhal. Singhal identified three of them as the Shahabuddin and his two bodyguards, Jehangir and Khaliq, who were in uniforms.
Later the group sped away while Singhal returned to Siwan. Next day, he lodged a written complaint with the Darauli police station.
Currently Shahabuddin is lodged in Siwan jail.
This is not the first time Shahabuddin, who faces charges in over 30 criminal cases of murder, abduction and possession of illegal arms and stolen vehicles, has been sentenced by court. Earlier, a court sentenced him to life imprisonment in the 1999 abduction of Chhotelal, a Siwan businessman.