Nine years after the brutal killing of senior journalist Rajdev Ranjan in Bihar’s Siwan, the Special CBI Court in Muzaffarpur has delivered its verdict. On Saturday, the court convicted three accused while acquitting three others in the high-profile case that once made headlines due to its alleged links with jailed RJD leader and former Siwan MP Mohammad Shahabuddin.

Rajdev Ranjan, then the bureau chief of a leading Hindi daily, was shot dead on May 13, 2016, while returning from a hospital visit. Assailants opened fire, hitting him with two bullets that proved fatal on the spot. His wife, Asha Yadav, lodged an FIR at Siwan Town police station, and initial suspicion pointed towards Shahabuddin, though charges were later framed against others.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the case and filed a chargesheet against seven accused, excluding Shahabuddin, who died during the COVID-19 pandemic. The trial involved six accused – Azharuddin alias Laddan Mian, Rohit Kumar Soni, Vijay Kumar Gupta, Sonu Kumar Gupta, Rajesh Kumar, and Rishu Kumar Jaiswal – while another accused was tried separately as a juvenile.

After nearly eight years of legal proceedings, during which 69 witnesses were examined and 111 pieces of evidence were presented, District and Additional Sessions Judge-3 Namita Singh announced the judgment. The court acquitted Azharuddin alias Laddan Mian, Rajesh Kumar, and Rishu Kumar Jaiswal due to lack of evidence, while finding Vijay Kumar Gupta, Sonu Kumar Gupta, and Rohit Kumar Soni guilty of murder.

The sentencing of the three convicted individuals is expected in the coming days. The case, which was initially heard at the Special MP/MLA Court in Patna, was later shifted to the CBI Court in Muzaffarpur for trial.