Shahabuddin case: Alleged shooter Mohammad Kaif says he is a cricketer

Wanted shooter Mohammed Kaif on Wednesday rubbished all accusations against him and said that he has no involvement in the murder of journalist Rajdev Rajan. Kaif told ANI that he had very close and good relations with Rajan, adding that he was at his sister’s residence for the post funereal ceremony at the time he was killed as she died two days before his murder. ‘I would like to tell you that I am a cricketer. I have bagged maximum number of trophies in whole of north Bihar. I had close relations with Rajdev. These accusations hurt me. I can only shed tears over this. All the allegations are false and bogus,’ said Kaif.
‘He (Rajdev) died on the 13th. My sister died in an accident on 10th and her funeral was on 11th. I went to my sister’s place the next day where I got to know about Rajdev’s death. I was already in trauma and this news added to my woes. I am a cricketer; my son is also a cricketer. I would prefer to die than face such allegations,’ he added. 

Kaif rubbished allegations when asked that the police surveillance and his Call Details Record (CDR) disclosed that he was near the murder spot. ‘My sister had died, do you really think I would care where my mobile was. I might have left it somewhere; I was not in my senses at that time. I was so worried about my sister’s children. I am the lone son of my parents. Do you think they will raise me to become a criminal’’ he said.
Clarifying his stand on the photo controversy with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son Tej Pratap Yadav, Kaif said the Bihar Health Minister is his role model, adding he looks up to him as an inspiration and a youth icon. 
‘Even I am interested in politics. After by ligament broke, I retired from cricket and became a coach and then thought of making a career in politics, this photograph must be of 2014-15. What is wrong in this’ I don’t even know how to operate Facebook,’ he said.

Speaking on the accusation levelled against him by Rajan’s wife, he said, ‘Rajdev’s wife doesn’t know me that well. People have said wrong things about me to Rajdev’s wife.’ He also downplayed the controversy surrounding his pictures with tainted RJD leader Mohammad Shahabuddin, saying he went to meet the latter as a loyalist and had no personal relations with him. ‘There is no comparison of me and Shahabuddin ji. Secondly, I am his voter. My whole family voted for him and Lalu ji and I did not visit him as a party worker. I went there as a voter. I spoke to my lawyer before going there. He told me that there was no issue,’ he said. 
A video has gone viral in which Kaif can be seen standing with the tainted RJD leader after his release from prison. In the video clip, Kaif can be seen standing right next to Shahabuddin and cheering him as he spoke to media after being released on Saturday. Kaif is one of the accused in the murder of Hindustan daily’s Siwan bureau chief Rajdev Ranjan.

Mohammad Kaif says journalist Rajdeo Ranjan had good relations with him, latter was also present at his wedding. pic.twitter.com/jE07E5nZQk

— ANI (@ANI_news) September 14, 2016

Yadav, who is elder son of RJD President Lalu Prasad, alleged that BJP was behind the controversy. "It is a conspiracy of opposition BJP. They bring some photograph from somewhere and make some false allegations." His younger brother and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav jumped to his defence.

"Is it written on somebody's forehead what he is?" he said on the photograph of Kaif with Tej Pratap Yadav. "Does Prime Minister Narendra Modi verify the background of everybody he shares dais in a function or meet?" he said in a counter-offensive against BJP. 

Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Prem Kumar used the opportunity to attack the state government, saying this reflected the state giving shelter to criminals. Meanwhile, Siwan Police said their were looking for Kaif and Mohammad Javed, who have been absconding in connection with the killing of the scribe of a Hindi vernacular on May 9 this year. "We are conducting raids at their residences and other known whereabouts, but so far no success has been achieved," Siwan Superintendent of Police Saurav Kumar Sah told PTI. Asked about photograph shown today of Kaif with minister Tej Pratap Yadav, the SP said, "Such things does not come under our domain. Our focus is to search for the absconders in the murder of the journalist.

With agency inputs