Shahabuddin shifted from jail for cell phone threats

Former Bihar MP Mohammad Shahabuddin was Sunday shifted from one jail to another following complaints that he was managing his wife's poll campaign and threatening rivals on mobile phone, an official said.

Shahabuddin, a criminal turned politician undergoing a life term, was shifted from Siwan jail to Gaya jail. His wife Hina Shahab is a Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate from Siwan parliamentary constituency where election is due to take place May 12.

"After complaints by the BJP and other political parties that Shahabuddin is using mobile phone to threaten his rivals and is managing his wife's campaign, the district administration shifted him from Siwan jail to Gaya jail," a police official said.

"He was shifted to ensure free and fair elections in Siwan," the official added.

After the Patna High Court dismissed his plea to suspend his conviction in a criminal case so that he could contest the Lok Sabha elections, the RJD fielded his wife from Siwan.

His wife was defeated in the last Lok Sabha polls.

Under the country's electoral laws, anyone convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to jail for more than two years is barred from contesting elections.

Last week, the Election Commission ordered the suspension of half a dozen policemen for allowing a jailed former legislator to use a mobile phone in a court in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district.

Munna Shukla was shifted from Muzaffarpur jail to Bhagalpur jail following an order of the poll panel after a complaint said he was found using a mobile phone in the court premises.

Shukla's wife is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Vaishali constituency as an independent candidate.