Shibu Soren will give country bad name: BJP

Describing as 'shameful' the presence of Shibu Soren in the Union Cabinet after a Jharkhand court issued an arrest warrant against him in connection with a massacre case, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to drop him and other 'tainted' ministers to ensure the country does not get a 'bad name'.

"It is a serious and embarrassing position that a man against whom a arrest warrant has been issued continues to remain in the cabinet. It is shameful for the whole country," BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman V K Malhotra told reporters in Delhi.

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Pooh-poohing the prime minister's letter asking all chief ministers to ensure stability of tenure of officials in key positions for effective administration, he said, "Physician heal thyself...charity begins at home. Singh was the first to replace both the cabinet and home secretaries. There is a witch hunting in HRD ministry and many key officials have been replaced. It would be better if the prime minister himself practices what he preaches."

Asked about the induction of legislator Raja Bhaiya in the Uttar Pradesh ministry, he said, "When murder accused are finding a place in the central ministry, the states are bound to follow suit."

Meanwhile, Union Coal Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren moved the Jharkhand high court against the entire proceeding relating to the 1975 Chirrudih massacre case, including quashing of the arrest warrant against him. Party sources in Ranchi said a team of lawyers had come from Delhi to assist Soren's local counsel in the case.

District Superintendent of Police S N Jha on Monday accepted the warrant against Soren, which was issued by the Jamtara district court on July 17.

Sub-divisional judicial magistrate A K Mishra had issued the warrant against Soren and nine others in connection with the death of 11 persons on January 23, 1975 at Chirrudih in Santhal Parganas district of undivided Bihar, now in Jharkhand's Jamtara district. Soren had secured bail in 1979.

Other accused against whom the court has issued arrest warrants are: L Hembrum, T Hansda, Ramakant Dutta, Dulal Hembrum, Lathu Hembrum, Ludo Hansda, Modo Hansda, Sanatan Majhi and Nunulal Kisku.

The trial was on in the court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate A K Mishra before cases against 52 out of 69 accused were transferred to a fast track court. Of the 69, three had already been arrested.