Rajdev Ranjan, the Siwan bureau chief of Hindi daily Hindustan, was not the first journalist murdered allegedly at the behest of Mohammad Shahabuddin for writing against the don-turned-politician.

Investigations have revealed that a Patna-based journalist, Kunal Kumar, was killed in Patna's Nehru Nagar on September 29, 2003, for publishing reports against Shahabuddin in his magazine.

A letter then inspector-general (IG) of police (headquarters) Neel Mani sent to then Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sunil Kumar had revealed that Kunal was killed at the behest of Shahabuddin. "Shahabuddin was very annoyed with Kunal for publishing the report against him," the letter read.

The IG (headquarters) letter, a copy of which is with The Telegraph, revealed that Shahabuddin's sharp shooter Suleman alias Nanhaka was involved in the murder of the scribe, who used to publish a vernacular magazine from Patna.

Neel Mani's letter, based on intelligence inputs received from a central intelligence agency, revealed that another journalist of Hindi daily Hindustan, Surendra Singh, was on the hitlist of the Siwan strongman. "Suleman and his associates are on the hunt for the journalist," the letter said.

Alarmed over the threat to the journalist's life, Neel Mani had directed the then Patna SSP to provide the scribe two bodyguards carrying carbines. The SSP was also told to take other precautionary measures to protect Surendra.

Copies of the letter were also sent to the then home commissioner V.K. Haldar, additional director-general (special banch) Ashok Kumar Gupta, Patna zonal IG A.C. Verma and deputy inspector-general (central zone) R. Kumar.

Probe revealed that Sultan Mian and not Suleman had killed Kunal, whose office was located on Fraser Road. Sultan, also a sharp shooter of the Shahabuddin gang, was arrested from Siwan by a police team headed by then DSP Dilnawaz Ahmad in 2005.

A senior police officer then posted in Patna told The Telegraph that Sultan Mian, who married a girl working at a beauty parlour in Patna, disappeared in 2006 after being released on bail.

The police officer, also considered close to Shahabuddin, said Sultan Mian had confessed to his involvement in the murder of Kunal. "Suleman was killed during an encounter with the police at Pratappur in Siwan district on March 16, 2001, in which 12 people, including two policemen, were killed," the officer said.

He said Shahabuddin, who was surrounded by security forces led by then Siwan SP Bachchu Singh Meena (now IG, security at the police headquarters), escaped unhurt owing to Suleman, who kept the police forces at bay. Pratappur, the native village of Shahabuddin, was then considered inaccessible to the police forces.

"The Kunal murder case was put into the cold storage after the mysterious disappearance of the prime accused Sultan Mian, also a resident of Siwan. Sultan had unleashed a reign of terror in Patna during the RJD rule," recalled another police officer, who retired from service recently.

On Monday, a special CBI court in Muzaffarpur issued a production warrant against Shahabuddin in the Rajdev Ranjan murder case. The court, headed by Anupam Kumari, directed the investigating officer, Sunil Singh Rawat, to produce Shahabuddin through video conferencing on May 26.

Shahabuddin is at present lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail. Rawat, a DSP-rank officer, told the court that the investigating agency had gathered sufficient evidence against Shahabuddin in the Rajdev case.

Muzaffarpur-based lawyer Sushil Kumar Singh said the court issues a production warrant only when it is satisfied with the evidence against the accused. The CBI is investigating the case on the Supreme Court's directive.

Ranjan's wife, Asha Ranjan, had earlier petitioned in the apex court seeking its intervention in the case. The apex court had asked the CBI to investigate the case and also Shahabuddin's role in it. Of the seven suspects, Mohammad Kaif alias Bunty, and Javed Mian alias Javed Bhutt have been granted bail in the case.

Shahabuddin's former associate Laddan Mian is suspected to be the mastermind behind Ranjan's murder on May 13, 2016. Ranjan was attacked on the railway station road while returning home from his office on motorbike.