Jamshedpur triple murder of 1989: When Shahabuddin was 'hired' to kill 3 Congress leaders

Mohammad Shahabuddin needs no introduction. He is one of the most talked about strongman-turned-politicians in the country.

Currently, Shahabuddin is lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail - serving life sentence - after being shifted on the orders of the Supreme Court from Siwan jail in Bihar, where his presence was considered as dangerous.

Two-time MLA and four-time Lok Sabha member as candidate of the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad Yadav - another convicted politician - Shahabuddin was booked, according to the Supreme Court records, in 75 cases.

Shahabuddin has been convicted in 10 cases while as many as 45 is still pending against him at various stages of judicial process. In one of the cases that brought Shahabuddin to the forefront of crime scene in united Bihar was the triple murder of 1989, when three men were killed in broad daylight in Jamshedpur.

JAMSHEDPUR TRIPLE-MURDER

On February 2 in 1989, Anand Rao, Janardan Chowbey and Pradeep Mishra was gunned down while they were travelling in an Ambassador car. They were attacked near Tisco Power House in the Jugsalai area of Jamshedpur.

All three died on the spot. All the three victims were associated with the Congress with Pradeep Mishra being a youth Congress leader. Anand Rao was a mafia-don-turned-aspiring-politician and Janardan Chowbey was his associate.

The crime was committed in full public view but it looked like a blind murder for some time.

Former Lok Sabha MP Mohammad Shahabuddin

POLICE INVESTIGATION

Driver of Pradeep Mishra, Brahmeshwar Pathak was the lone survivor of the incident. Pathak had received bullets in his body during the attack. When he could, Pathak lodged a police complaint in Jamshedpur.

Police began its investigation in the high profile case. The assailants were not known and believed to have come from other regions.

After one month of investigation, Jamshedpur police claimed that the conspiracy to eliminate Anand Rao, Janardan Chowbey and Pradeep Mishra was plotted by local don Birender Singh. Jamshedpur police concluded that Birender Singh hired Mohammad Shahabuddin of Siwan - then a lesser known criminal - to kill the three Congressmen.

Shahabuddin was yet to enter politics, when he was made an accused in the case. He joined the youth wing of the RJD a year later in 1990. The same year, he contested Bihar Assembly election and was elected as the youngest member of the House.

THE TRIAL AND ACQUITTAL

After police investigation, judicial trial lingered on for years. Eight people were charged with committing the crime. Besides Shahabuddin, other seven were Birender Singh, Saheb Singh, Dashrath Singh, Rama Singh, Kallu Singh, Paras Singh and Sushil Singh.

In 2006, first set of judgment was delivered. Four of the accused, namely, Rama Singh, Dilip Singh alias Kalu Singh, Sunil Singh and Parasa Singh were acquitted in the triple murder case for want of evidence by the Jamshedpur court.

Rama Singh was an LJP MLA in Bihar when he was acquitted by a court in the neighbouring state.

However, the Jamshedpur court started a separate trial against Shahabuddin. The court believed in 2006 that there was enough material to prosecute Shahabuddin, who was into the fourth term of his Lok Sabha membership then.

Three other accused - Birender Singh, Saheb Singh and Dasrath Singh - had died during initial days of trial.

After 28 years, Shahabuddin was today acquitted in the triple murder case by the Jamshedpur court. Incidentally, none of the charge-sheeted accused was convicted for killing those three Congressmen in 1989.

Also read: Mohammad Shahabuddin acquitted in Jamshedpur triple murder case

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