Mohammad Shahabuddin (Indian politician)

Mohammad Shahabuddin (10 May 1967 – 1 May 2021) was an Indian gangster and don, from the state of Bihar, who later became a politician, serving as an MLA and Member of Parliament from the Siwan constituency in the state of Bihar. He was a former member of the National Executive Committee of the Janata Dal and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Shahabuddin was disqualified from contesting elections following his conviction for the kidnapping and disappearance of Chote Lal Gupta, an activist of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation for which he was serving a life sentence. He was also accused of killing 15 other Communist Party activists, including the former student leader Chandrashekhar Prasad. Shahabuddin was elected for four successive terms to the Indian Parliament between 1996 and 2004 from the Siwan constituency. He was also elected for two successive terms to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1990 and 1995 from the Ziradei constituency. His wife, Hena Shahab, has contested from the Siwan constituency as the candidate from the Rashtriya Janata Dal following his disqualification and has been described as a proxy candidate. Shahabuddin was described as a convicted gangster, a bahubhali (strongman) in the Siwan district, and a close aide of Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Rashtriya Janata Dal president.