Soren appears before court on murder charge

Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren appeared before a local court in connection with a 1974 double-murder case.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren on Wednesday appeared before a local court in connection with a 1974 double-murder case.

He stood in the dock for about 30 minutes as the public prosecutor,Ranjit Singh,argued in the court of the Additional District and Sessions Court of N N Singh here.

After hearing the arguments,the court was adjourned. The next hearing is fixed for March 8.

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Soren was made one of the accused in the murder of two persons on April 15,1974,over slaughtering of a goat by a group of people at Kudko village in Pritand police station area in Giridih.

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.

The chargesheet was filed in 1978. Eight other accused were acquitted in 1986,leaving Soren as the sole accused in the case.

On an earlier date,the court was informed that seven witnesses,including doctors and investigating officers,could not be traced while seven other witnesses turned hostile.

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Earlier,Soren,who took oath on December 30 for the third time as Chief Minister,had been acquitted in the Chirrudih massacre and Sashinath Jha murder cases by separate courts in Jamtara and Delhi respectively.

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