The coal minister in the Union Cabinet till a few days ago, Shibu Soren is now merely qaidi No. 1726 at the Tihar Jail, New Delhi.

He is serving a life term for murdering his personal assistant 12 years ago.

The jail authorities on Wednesday allotted the qaidi ticket (convict number) to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief, a highly placed jail official said.

Soren was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court on Tuesday and after that he was kept in barrack No 4 of jail no. 2 in the central prison. The JMM chief was also fined Rs 5 lakh.

The court had also handed down life imprisonment to four other convicts in the case.

Doctors on Wednesday found Soren not fit enough to do the chores of a convict therefore refused to allot him work.

But the other four have been allotted the task of gardening on the jail premises.

According to the doctors, Soren ate properly and also meditated for some time. He had tea and bread for breakfast and daal and rotis for dinner. ''But he is weak and, therefore, has been advised to rest,'' a doctor said.

Meanwhile, Soren's conviction and Santosh Singh's hanging order in the Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case has thrown other VIP inmates in the Tihar jail in a frenzy and they have started contacting their lawyers.

Among them are IPS officer R K Sharma, the prime accused in the Shivani Bhatnagar case; Romesh Sharma, accused in the murder of Naina Sahanil; Pappu Yadav, who is accused of murdering CPI-M leader Ajit Sarkar; Sharda Jain, accused in the murder of Councilor Atmaram Gupta; Manu Sharma, accused of killing Jessica Lal [Images]; Vikas and Vishal Yadav, the two who are accused of murdering Nitish Katara.

Seeing a three-time minister thrown behind bars for a crime he committed 12 years ago, all these people have asked their lawyers to strengthen their defence.