Patna, Feb. 19: There are striking similarities in the twists of fate for Siwan don Mohammad Shahabuddin and Madhepura-Purnea strongman Pappu Yadav.

Then a convict in CPM MLA Ajit Sarkar's murder case, the Supreme Court shifted Rajesh Ranjan - popularly known as Pappu Yadav - to Tihar jail in 2005 after he organised a grand feast with his supporters in Beur Central Jail. Pappu was lodged in Tihar for eight years. His detractors had all but written his political epitaph, but lady luck eventually smiled on Pappu. Patna High Court acquitted him in the Ajit Sarkar murder case in 2013. Next year, he won the Madhepura Lok Sabha seat in 2014 on an RJD ticket. His wife, Ranjeet Ranjan, too won the Supaul seat in the same election in which the BJP led NDA swept the polls in the rest of the state.

Pappu's political capital was intact despite his long stay in jail. When he came out of the jail, his supporters lapped him up and political parties vied to give him a ticket. Pappu preferred Lalu Prasad's RJD, which has of late turned hostile to him. Like Pappu, Shahabuddin's political capital, too, seems intact despite the apex court "deporting" him to Tihar from his bastion of Siwan.

Over 200 of his frenzied supporters mobbed him at the New Delhi railway station today on way to Tihar jail. "Nitish-Lalu murdabad," they shouted. Shahabuddin's supporters had created a similar scene at the Patna Junction station yesterday evening when the security men were bundling him onto the Delhi-bound Sampurna Kranti Express.

Shahabuddin has been lodged in jail No. 2 of Tihar, whose other notable inmates include gangster Chhota Rajan.

"Shahabuddin reached Tihar jail around 8.30am and he was medically examined by doctors at the prison hospital before being lodged in the jail number 2 for convicts," said Tihar jail director-general Sudhir Yadav.

Security arrangements for Shahabuddin include CCTV camera monitoring and watch by Tamil Nadu Special Police Force personnel, officials said.

That he enjoys "hysterical" support, particularly among sections of the Muslim youth, became evident when the Patna High Court released Shahabuddin on bail on September 10 last year from Bhagalpur jail. Thousands of people and hundreds of vehicles escorted him from Bhagalpur to Pratappur, his home in Siwan district. Shahabuddin in turn organised a three-day grand feast for his supporters at his home.

"Shahabuddin's case is more complicated than that of Pappu despite the similarity in their situations," said a senior state police officer under the cover of anonymity. "Pappu was convicted in one murder case. Shahabuddin stands convicted in as many as eight cases of grave offence including murders. Besides, he faces 45 other cases in addition to eight he stands convicted in."

The fact, however, remains that Shahabuddin has his support base intact among Muslims, who constitute about 16 per cent of the voters in Bihar and over 26 per cent in his home district of Siwan.

"The anger is still fresh among Shahabuddin's supporters," said Braj Kishore Tiwary, a Siwan-based lawyer. "The Muslims can't opt for the BJP. They have to choose between Lalu and Nitish. And eventually, they will prefer Lalu on the calculation that it was the Nitish Kumar government that appealed in the Supreme Court against the Patna High Court order of bailing out Shahabuddin."

The Siwan don's travails began when the Nitish-led NDA government came to power in 2005. The government re-opened the dormant cases against him, sending him to jail. Shahabuddin remained in jail throughout the first and second term of Nitish in office. He got out from jail for a brief period - 21 days - when the Patna High Court bailed him out in a case related to the Rakesh Roshan murder case on September 7 last year.

Out of jail, Shahabuddin immediately fired a salvo at Nitish and declared Lalu as his leader: "Nitish Madhu Koda ki tarah paristhttiyon ke CM hain. Hamarey neta Lalu hain (Nitish like Madhu Koda is a CM of circumstances. My leader is Lalu)."

Clever leader that he is, Lalu has either sympathised with Shahabuddin or at best kept mum.