Shooter Tara Shahdeo at her residence in Ranchi on Friday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Aug. 29: Chief minister Hemant Soren recommended a CBI probe into the Tara Shahdeo case at a news meet here late tonite.

A nexus between purported “love jihadist” and Tara’s husband Ranjit Singh Kohli, alias Rakibul Hassan, and a section of interstate judiciary raised its ugly head as Ranchi police earlier in the day received court permission to grill the key accused in a case of forceful conversion, intimidation and physical assault.

A day after Jharkhand High Court registrar (vigilance) Mustaque Ahmed was suspended for his alleged links with faith crime accused Kohli, estranged husband of national-level shooter Tara, sleuths are sniffing a trail to a first-class judicial magistrate in Bihar.

Ranchi SSP Prabhat Kumar said a team would be sent to Sherghati in the neighbouring state to quiz magistrate Rajesh Kumar who allegedly helped Kohli’s mother, Kaushalya Rani, escape to Delhi via Patna after the young markswoman lodged an FIR against the mother-son duo in Jharkhand.

“The CCTV footages at Delhi and Patna airports show the first-class judicial magistrate of Sherghati seeing off the elderly woman. Information gathered suggests that he had also facilitated Kohli’s escape. Hence, the judicial officer will be interrogated,” SSP Kumar said.

The senior police officer, who met Tara at her Kishoregunj residence in Ranchi this afternoon, said that besides the Bihar judge, the kazi who conducted the shooter’s nikah with Kohli, alias Hassan, on July 9, two days after the couple had a Hindu wedding, would be grilled.

Also in the line of interrogation is one Sarvjeet, the owner of Hotel Accord in Ranchi, where Kohli always had room No. 307 booked in his name.

“We have some clues on the kazi. First, we shall ascertain his identity and then interrogate him. He may or may not have known that Kohli was deceiving the victim as has been alleged. Apart from this, the hotel owner needs to be asked why a room was permanently spared for a particular person,” the SSP said.

In yet another twist to the torment tale, Tara has alleged that high court registrar Ahmed’s wife too had mounted pressure on her to embrace Islam. On whether the woman would be probed, Ranchi police said they would speak to “each and every person necessary to unveil the truth in a convoluted case”.

The roles of state minority welfare and co-operative minister Haji Hussain Ansari, who sent an iftar invite to ‘Rakibul’, as well as his tourism and urban development colleague Suresh Paswan are also likely to come under the scanner. “We will first grill the main accused and, subsequently, all the others whose names have cropped up. The purpose of interrogation will be to ascertain the degree of acquaintance,” a senior officer said on the matter.

Earlier in the day, the court of chief judicial magistrate, Ranchi, granted police Kohli’s custody for three days. “Police had appealed for seven days, but the court gave permission to keep Kohli for only three days,” said Sanjeev Kumar Sinha, assistant public prosecutor.

Investigating officer of the case inspector H.C. Singh confirmed the development and said they had not sought Kaushalya’s remand.

Jethy affidavit

A supplementary affidavit was filed today by Vijay Kumar Jethy in a PIL filed by him, seeking an NIA probe in the Tara Shahdeo case.

Jethy has alleged that registrar Ahmed was instrumental in trying to brainwash the shooter to convert to Islam after her marriage to Kohli. He has claimed minister Ansari and former Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari too played a crucial role in the wedding. The affidavit says DSP (Nagar Uttari) Surjit Kumar had provided bodyguards to Kohli without proper sanction and authority.