Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren convicted in the murder case by Delhi court

November 28, 2006

A Delhi court has convicted Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren and four other people for abducting and murdering his private secretary Shashi Nath Jha in 1994.

According to CBI report, Jha's family memebrs told that he was apprehensive of the threat to his life from Soren and his family members. According to police, Jha was murdered because he was well aware of the deal between Soren's Party and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).

Others who have been convicted by the court are, Nand Kishore Mehta alias Nandu, Pashupati Nath Mehta alias Posho, Ajay Kumar Mehta alias Dillip, and Shailendra Bhattacharya. Whereas, two other accused, Sunil Khaware and Asish Thakur were acquitted by the court.

JMM leader, 62-year-old Soren, was taken into custody after the verdict and later sent to Tihar Jail. On the other hand, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked Soren for his resignation.

According to Jharkhand court, Soren was allegedly involved in a mass-killing case about two decades ago and had to quit the UPA government after issuing a non-bailable warrant against him by the court. However, he was able to secure a bail after spending about a month in judicial custody.

Soren resigned from the UPA government to become the chief minister of Jharkhand. He was in office for 9 days but could not gain vote of confidence. Then he again returned to the cabinet ministry.