Bihar: Osama Shahab’s meeting with former MP creates ripples in political circles

PATNA: Osama Shahab, the son of late Mohd Shahabuddin, met don-turned former MP, Prabhunath Singh, at his residence in Saran district on Friday evening, creating ripples in political circles.
The closed-door meeting at Prabhunath’s ancestral house in Barharia village under Masrakh subdivision lasted for about an hour. His son, Randhir Singh, was also present on the occasion.
“He (Osama) had come to meet my father, who has been released on parole from the Hazaribagh central jail to attend a wedding ceremony in the family,” Randhir, a former MLA, told this newspaper over the phone on Saturday.
Prabhunath is currently serving sentence in connection with the murder case of a former MLA from Masrakh, Ashok Singh. He was convicted in the case by a Hazaribagh court about three years ago.
Randhir, however, parried questions on the conversation between Osama and his father. “We have been close to the departed leader’s (Shahabuddin) family for a long time. Osama came here on a personal visit,” he said.
Sources close to Shahabuddin’s family claimed that earlier Randhir had visited Pratappur in Siwan district when the family returned from New Delhi after the former MP’s death last month. Shahabuddin was lodged in the Tihar jail.
On Friday the MLAs of the AIMIM led by Akhtarul Iman met Osama at Pratappur and consoled the family. “A beeline of leaders cutting across party lines suggests that Shahabuddin still matters in the politics of Siwan,” said Harishankar Yadav, an RJD MLA.