AP News, May 8th, 2007
A popular Indian politician was convicted Tuesday and sentenced to life in prison on a charge of kidnapping with intent to kill a rival who disappeared eight years ago and has never been found.
Mohammed Shahabuddin, a Muslim lawmaker from the state of Bihar, escaped a murder conviction because the prosecution failed to prove that Chhote Lal Gupta, a Communist, had been killed, said Judge Gyanaeshwar Prasad Srivastava.
Gupta, who was last seen being taken away in a car by Shahabuddin in 1999, has not been seen since.
Shahabuddin, a member of the populist Rashtriya Janata Dal, or National People's Group _ a coalition partner of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government _ was also fined $240.
Thousands of people had demonstrated in support of and against Shahabuddin during the trial, which was held inside a prison for security reasons.
Gupta's family decried the sentence, saying Shahabuddin deserved the death penalty.
"We would have been satisfied had the court ordered Shahabuddin's execution," Gupta's wife, Renu, told the Press Trust of India news agency. "He never returned and we have lost all hopes of his return."
Police are investigating nearly two dozen criminal cases against Shahabuddin, which include charges of kidnapping, extortion, murder and keeping unlicensed weapons. In March, another court in Bihar state sentenced Shahabuddin to two years in prison for assaulting a Communist Party office secretary in 1998.
Politics in several Indian states have been dominated by local strongmen who often use violence to intimidate rivals. Many of the lawmakers in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh states are facing criminal charges, including murder and kidnapping. Bihar, in the east, is considered India's most lawless state.
