Criminal Trials
In May 2006, Nitish Kumar's National Democratic Alliance government set up a number of special courts for trying criminal-dons including Suraj Bhan Singh MP, and MP Prabhunath Singh from Nitish Kumar's own party, Janata Dal (United).
However, Shahabuddin claimed to have suffered a slipped disc, and was not in a position to appear in court. Medical reports however, indicated that he was fit to walk. In any event, two special courts were set up inside Siwan Jail to try the cases pending against him.
There were more than thirty criminal cases pending, including eight of murder, and 20 of attempted murder, kidnapping, extortion, etc. Of these, charges were initially framed in eight cases.
Besides these police-registered cases, many other crimes are unreported. These include a large number of "disappearances" from Siwan; reports in the media allege that as many as a hundred bodies may be buried on the grounds of Shahabuddin's well-fortified Pratappur palace, the venue where the entire Bihar state police had to retreat after a fierce firefight while attempting to serve a warrant in 2001 (the three policemen killed in this battle also figure in the list of cases against him).
Read more about this topic: Mohammad Shahabuddin
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