Sibu fails to appear in Chirudih case

Jamtara, Jun 11 (UNI) Former union minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) president Sibu Soren today failed to appear before a local court in a three-decade-old Chirudih massacre case in this district.

The public prosecutor informed the court of Additional and Sessions Judge(first) Arun Kumar that the JMM president had failed to appear before the court due to illness.

Soren, who is facing life-term imprisonment for killing his personal assistant Ahashi Nath Jha, was shifted to Dumka Central Jail from Tihar jail.

The other 24 accused in the case appeared in the court today.

The court had fixed June 18 as the day for hearing.

Soren had to resign as union minister in 2004 after a production warrant was issued against him in the Chirudih case in which about 11 persons were killed in the district on January 23, 1975.

UNI