Patna: How did a man in jail step out and supervise the gruesome murder of two men? In Bihar, the home department has begun an investigation as to how the former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin stepped out of the Siwan divisional jail and committed this crime at his native Pratappur village in Siwan district in 2004.

The probe started after a Siwan court on Friday awarded a life term to Shahabuddin and four of his henchmen in connection with the murder of two sons of a Siwan-based trader on August 16, 2004.

The court observed that the double murder was committed in the presence of the former Siwan MP, who was the undergoing a prison sentence in the divisional jail there.

Special public prosecutor Jai Prakash Singh said the court was convinced with the prosecution argument that the SIM card, which was used to make calls to the murdered brothers’ father Chandrakeshwar Prasad, was issued in the name of Shahabuddin.

The SIM card was later seized from Shahabuddin during a search of his prison cell.

The only eyewitness in the double murder case, the deceased’s third brother Rajeev Raushan, in his statement before the court, had said that he had seen Shahabuddin on the spot when his brothers Satish Raj (25) and Girish Raj (20) were drenched in acid before being killed at Pratappur, about 7km southwest of Siwan district headquarters town and 150km northwest of Patna.

Rajeev, third among four sons of Chanda Babu, was later murdered in Siwan on June 16, 2014. Shahabuddin is named as a conspirator in Rajeev’s murder case, the trial for which is underway.

“The prosecution provided the call details of the SIM card issued in the name of Shahabuddin that was in use even after the double murder,” Jai said today.

Shahabuddin, whose name spelt terror in Siwan during the RJD rule, was lodged in the jail in connection with the kidnapping of CPI-ML worker Munna Choudhary at the time of the double murder.

The former MP admitted before the special court that the SIM card was issued in his name but kept silent when asked who had it while he was lodged in prison.

“The role of the prison department officials will be verified after the court’s observation,” said a senior home department official. “We are in touch with the special public prosecutor who was dealing with the case.”

A source said the copy of the court order had been provided to the home department.

Lalan Singh was the jail superintendent, and R.K. Mahajan was the Siwan district magistrate when the double murder was committed. Mahajan is now principal secretary of health department.

Chandrakeshwar Prasad (70), who lost three of his four sons in the past one-and-a-half decades, demanded the sternest action against the jail officials for allegedly facilitating the criminal turned politician to step out and commit crimes outside the jail. “It’s now official. The court has given its seal on our statement,” the father added.

Prasad says that he was away in Patna on the fateful day (August 16, 2004). “The henchmen of the don-turned-politician reached my grocery shop on Goshala Road and picked up a quarrel with my sons Girish and Rajeev. They beat up Rajeev but dispersed after Girish threatened them with a bottle of acid kept in an adjoining bathroom,” Chandrakeshwar said.

The attackers returned with several others and picked up Girish, Rajeev and Satish and took them to the don’s native village Pratappur. Rajeev was separated from his two brothers and held captive in a sugarcane field. From there, he his brothers being tortured and killed. “Rajeev heard Shahabuddin saying that since Girish had threatened to pour acid at his men, he should learn how acid hurts human beings,” Chandrakeshwar said, adding that as the don’s men bathed Girish and Satish with acid, Rajeev had managed to escape.

  Bihar