Kurko murder case: Soren appears before Giridih court

Giridih (Jharkhand), Feb 3 (ANI): Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren appeared before a local court here on Wednesday in connection with the 1974 Kurko murder case.

Soren stood in the dock for around 30 minutes as Ranjit Singh, the public prosecutor argued in the court of N N Singh, the Additional District and Sessions Court Judge.

The court was adjourned after the hearing. The next date of hearing has been kept on March 8.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Chief Soren is an accused along with some others, who had allegedly murdered Balbir Rai of Kurko village in Giridih District, for killing a goat.

The FIR, filed by Bahadur Singh, accused Soren of leading the group that allegedly killed Khirodar Singh and Chundi Singh following the slaughter of a goat while another person went missing.

Earlier, Soren was also charged in connection with the murder of Shashi Nath Jha, his private secretary.

The Delhi High Court had acquitted Soren along with four other convicts-Nand Kishore Mehta, Shailendra Bhattacharya, Pashupati Nath Mehta and Ajay Kumar Mehta.

A local court had on December 26, 2006 sentenced Soren and four others to life imprisonment for kidnapping and killing Jha.

The JMM leader had challenged his conviction and life sentence in connection with the murder case, which took place in 1992.

Prosecutors said Jha went missing from the Dhaula Kuan area of Delhi on May 22, 1992, and was last seen in Ranchi in the company of Soren loyalists the next day.

They claim that Jha was later murdered, as he allegedly possessed knowledge about the money received by JMM MPs, including Soren, from former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao to vote in favour of his minority government in Parliament in 1993. (ANI)