BJP demands immediate arrest of Shahabuddin for scribe Rajdeo Ranjan's murder

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday demanded the immediate arrest of Shahabuddin and accused the former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) parliamentarian of being the main conspirator in the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan.

Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said that sharpshooter Mohammad Kaif is one of the accused in the murder of Ranjan and is the close aide of Shahabuddin. He demanded that that the former parliamentarian should be removed from the party.

"Mohammad Kaif is a close aide of Shahabuddin, and in the Rajdev Ranjan murder case, he was constantly in touch with Rajdev seven days prior to his death. And on the day he (Ranjan) died, they talked three to four times over the phone. Police has all evidence against Kaif that in Rajdev Ranjan murder case, Mohammad Kaif played a major role," Modi said.

"He was a part of the conspiracy and he is an absconder in the eyes of police and was seen with Shahabuddin in Bhagalpur and Siwan. We demand the immediate arrest of Shahabuddin because after the case of Mohammad Kaif, there is clear evidence. All the people that have been arrested in this case are associates of Shahabuddin," he added.

Modi further said, "The Bharatiya Janata Party demands that after the video that went viral of Mohammad Kaif, Shahabuddin should be arrested on the basis of him being the main conspirator in Rajdev Ranjan muder case."

Modi added, "I would appeal to both the sons of Lalu Yadav that they should force their father to chuck Shahabuddin out of the party.that a person like Shahabuddin should not be in the party."

A video had gone viral yesterday, in which Kaif can be seen standing with Shahabuddin after his release from prison. In the video clip, Kaif can be seen standing right next to Shahabuddin and cheering him as he spoke to the media after being released on Saturday.

Kaif is one of the accused in the murder of Hindustan daily's Siwan bureau chief Rajdev Ranjan.

However, Kaif on Wednesday rubbished all accusations against him and told ANI that he had very close and good relations with Rajan, and added that he was at his sister's residence for the post funeral ceremony at the time Ranjan was killed, as his sister had died two days before the former's murder.

Speaking on the accusation levelled against him by Rajan's wife, he said, "Rajdev's wife doesn't know me that well. People have said wrong things about me to Rajdev's wife."

He also downplayed the controversy surrounding his pictures with tainted RJD leader Mohammad Shahabuddin, saying he went to meet the latter as a loyalist and had no personal relations with him.

"There is no comparison of me and Shahabuddin ji. Secondly, I am his voter. My whole family voted for him and Lalu ji and I did not visit him as a party worker. I went there as a voter. I spoke to my lawyer before going there. He told me that there was no issue," he said.