Mohammad Shahabuddin, the dreaded criminal-turned-politician sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case, has sought refuge in books by Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela in Siwan jail.
"Shahabuddin is busy reading Long Walk to Freedom, other books by Mahatma Gandhi," jail sources said.
Besides, Shahabuddin also is in possession of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh's controversial book on Jinnah.
"Shahabuddin is a regular visitor of library in the jail and picks up books often. I was told that he devotes more time with books in his cell," Sanjeev Kumar, a jail officer, told rediff.com.
"Nowadays, he asks for quality books," says Shahabuddin's lawyer A K Rajan.
He asked me for some latest books, but most of them are unavailable in a small town like Siwan. Shahabuddin has been convicted in at least five murder cases.