Former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin was released from prison after 11 long years on Saturday to a tumultuous welcome by hundreds of cheering supporters. Shahabuddin claimed that he was framed in criminal cases, and that politics had nothing to do with the bail Patna High Court granted him in a case related to the killing of a murder witness.
Here are the 10 facts you need to know about him
♦ Shahabuddin is facing 35 criminal cases including murder, extortion and kidnapping. He was convicted in seven cases.
♦ Before his arrest in 2005, he was a Rashtriya Janata Dal MP. He was four times RJD MP from Siwan—from 1996 to 2009.
♦ His rise as a muscleman began when he was elected as an independent legislator.
♦ He gained popularity after ordering Siwan's doctors and lawyers in the mid 1990s to stop charging exorbitant fees from patients and clients.
♦ He is said to have helped many poor people by providing dowry and cash for their daughters' wedding.
♦ Shahabuddin was linked with the murder of political rivals, the most infamous being the killing of former JNU Students Union president Chandrasekhar in 1997.
♦ Until the 2005 assembly polls, the campaign vehicles of other political parties were not permitted on the roads of Siwan.
♦ The CPI-ML was the only political force in Siwan that openly challenged Shahabuddin. CPI-ML leader Amar Nath Yadav contested the election against Shahabuddin at great risk to his life.
♦ During President's rule in 2005, IAS officer C.K. Anil and IPS officer Ratan Sanjay, then the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of Siwan, cracked down on Shahabuddin, externing him from the district.
♦ Shahabuddin was convicted for the first time in 2007 for the abduction of CPI-ML worker Chote Lal Gupta. He was sentenced to life in prison.
