Jharkhand minister admits meeting Rakibul

Jharkhand Minister Haji Hussain Ansari has admitted that he knows national shooter Tara Shahdeo's husband Ranjit Kohli alias Rakibul Hassan and attended the dinner hosted by him after his marriage to Tara Shahdeo.

"I met Rakibul two or three times. When monsoon session of Jharkhand assembly was on, I was invited by Rakibul to attend a dinner as I had not attended his marriage. During the dinner, I came to know that his marriage was solemnised in both Hindu and Muslim ways," Ansari told reporters.

He said: "Rakibul met me saying that he was running an NGO involved in plantation work".

The minister also admitted that he wrote letters to people in power regarding plantation work of Rakibul.

According to police sources, Rakibul's mobile phone call records had revealed that he was in contact with many judicial officers, police officials and politicians.

In her complaint to police, Tara Shahdeo, a national-level gold medallist rifle shooting champion, said she got married in July to Ranjit Kohli.

She said the marriage was solemnised in accordance with Hindu rituals.

However, during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, she came to know from invitation cards that her husband's original name was Rakibul Hassan.

She alleged that Kohli and 20 other people forced her to change her religion. When she refused, she was allegedly beaten up and a dog was set upon her.

Shahdeo alleged that she was threatened with dire consequences if she told anyone about the conversion.

When Kohli went to New Delhi Aug 19, she messaged her family and was rescued.