SC Finds Former LS MP Prabhunath Singh Guilty In Double Murder Case

Former Member of Parliament (MP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Prabhunath Singh has been held guilty by the Supreme Court in the double murder case of Rajendra Rai, 18, and Daroga Rai, 47, near a polling booth in Chhapra in March 1995.

A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, AS Oka, and Vikram Nath convicted Prabhunath Singh, a three-term Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) and one-time RJD MP from Maharajganj, in the double murder case saying there is sufficient evidence to show he murdered Rajendra Rai, 18, and Daroga Rai, 47, near a polling booth in Chhapra in March 1995.

The two were shot dead because they did not vote as per Singh's suggestion. The Patna high court transferred the case from Chhapra after the kin of those killed alleged that witnesses were being threatened and influenced.

A Patna court in December 2008 acquitted Prabhunath Singh citing lack of evidence. The Patna high court upheld the acquittal in 2012. Rajendra Rai's brother challenged the acquittal in the Supreme Court.

The court affirmed the acquittal of six other co-accused and fixed September 1 as the next date to hear Singh on the quantum of sentence. The punishment for murder can either be a life term or a death sentence.

Earlier in 2017, a trial court found him guilty in connection with the 1995 murder of legislator Ashok Singh, who defeated Prabhunath Singh in the 1995 Bihar assembly poll. Prabhunath Singh had threatened to eliminate him within 90 days of the election.

Prabhunath Singh joined Janata Dal in 1995. He later became a member of JD(U) before joining RJD in 2010 after falling out with chief minister Nitish Kumar.