It’s a great thing to be a VIP in India. You don’t have to wait in queues, or follow basic traffic rules. Even if you are a former MLA and gangster , and charges have been framed against you in eight out of 31 criminal cases, and you have been debarred from contesting assembly elections.
That’s exactly what CCTV cameras at a toll booth in Muzaffarnagar captured. In the video above, over 100 vehicles, part of the convoy of Rashtriya Janata Dal member Mohammad Shahabuddin, can be seen going past a toll booth without paying.
This was soon after he was released from the nearby Bhagalpur Jail on bail after serving a term of 11 years on charges of murder and kidnapping. The toll authorities stated that police had ordered them not to collect any tax since it was a “VIP movement”.
The convoy of former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, which was enroute to Siwan crossed a toll plaza at Muzaffarpur without paying the charges.
The cavalcade of the gangster-turned politician had started from Bhagalpur to reach Siwan, as the Patna High Court has granted him bail in the much-publicised Rajiv Raushan murder case.
The entire incident was captured by the cameras installed at the toll plaza.
Muzaffarpur toll plaza Assistant Manager Dipak Chaube said they had police orders to let more than 200 cars in Shahabuddin’s convoy pass without toll.
“According to the rule they would have paid the toll. But if there is a VIP moment then we allow the cars to pass. Had police orders to let more than 200 cars in ex-mp Shahabuddin’s convoy pass without toll. The convoy included many red beacon cars and many from the administration,” he added.
The Patna High Court granted bail to the tainted leader in the controversial Rajiv Roshan case.
Shahabuddin was found guilty in 2004 for kidnapping of brothers Girish Raj and Satish Raj, giving them ‘an acid bath’ and then murdering them.
Shahabuddin’s son Osama was charged for killing of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Roshan, who was a witness in the case.