Patna, Jun 3 (IANS): A local court here on Friday acquitted all the accused in the 17-year-old Congress leader Rajo Singh murder case for want of evidence.

Sanjay Singh, the ADJ (Third) of Sheikhpura court acquitted all the accused in the absence of proof. Sudarshan Kumar, the main complainant and nephew of Rajo Singh, recently appeared in the court and withdrew all the charges levelled against the accused.

He retracted his earlier statement which eventually helped the accused.

Senior Congress leader of Bihar Rajo Singh, along with another Shyam Kishore Singh, was gunned down in the party office in Sheikhpura on September 9, 2005. Following the double murder, local police registered an FIR against Shambhu Yadav, Anil Mahto, Bachho Mahto, Pinto Mahto and Raj Kumar Mahto.

All of them were acquitted in the absence of proof.

Besides them, the complainant had also registered an FIR against current building construction minister Ashok Chaudhary, JD-U MLA Randhir Kumar Soni, and former city council president of Sheikhpura Mukesh Yadav but local police did not include their names in the charge sheet. Kamlesh Mahto, an accused of this case, had already died during the trial.

In the last 17 years, 36 persons appeared in the court as witnesses of which 33 had turned hostile.

Last month, Sudarshan Kumar had also appeared in the court and retracted his earlier claims. He maintained that he has nothing to do with the case.

Sudarshan Kumar contested the 2020 Assembly election from Barbigha in Sheikhpura district as a JD-U candidate and won the election.