Siwan Divisional Jail Superintendent Bidhu Bhardwaj has lodged an FIR against Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Mohammad Shahabuddin for taking a selfie with another person inside the prison. “An FIR has been registered against Mohammad Shahabuddin and an unknown person in the selfie matter,” officer in-charge of Muffasil police station Vinay Pratap Singh told PTI.

District Magistrate Mahendra Kumar had ordered jail superintendent Bhardwaj to lodge the complaint after a two-member team of the sub-divisional police officer and the sub-divisional officer submitted a report on it.

The selfie, which was taken earlier this month, went viral on social media. Following this, the Siwan district administration had conducted raids inside the jail on January 7 and found four SIM cards and two mobile batteries. But prison authorities had said none of the cell phones or SIM cards found in the jail premises belonged to Shahabuddin.

In a separate ruling, the Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its judgement on the plea of shifting Shahabuddin from Siwan jail to a prison outside Bihar. Shahabuddin’s counsel Shekhar Naphade argued that the move would violate his fundamental rights. Besides, the bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy said the petitioner’s asking for an FIR against Shahabuddin and RJD chief Lalu Yadav’s son Tej Pratap Yadav would be heard separately.

Shahabuddin is currently accused in 45 cases, including in the murder of journalist Rajdev Ranjan. The former MP from Siwan was released on bail from jail on September 10, after nearly 11 years. He had been in prison since November 2005 in connection with the murder of two brothers from his village. Shahabuddin was also an accused in the murder case of Rajiv Roshan, a prime eyewitness in the killing of the two brothers.

Patna High Court granted Shahbuddin bail in Roshan’s murder case saying the trial could not begin as the accused was in jail. However, on September 30, the Supreme Court courtcancelled his bail and directed Shahabuddin to surrender.