The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday moved the special CBI court here for further strengthening of the security cover inside the Sabarmati Central Jail for the former deputy superintendent of police, Narendra Amin, whose application for turning approver in the Sohrabuddin-Kausar Bi murder case is still pending.
The petition was filed by the CBI following disclosure of an alleged plot to assassinate Mr. Amin inside the jail before he could damage the interests of his co-accused police officials involved in the murder. The court has fixed the hearing on the petition for August 26, and has asked the Sabarmati jail authorities to keep a strict vigil on Mr. Amin's security till the petition was disposed of.
The assassination plot came to light after Shakeel Shaikh filed an application before the Vadodara court for jail transfer, citing security fears in the Sabarmati jail. He claimed that the jail authorities offered him Rs. 10 lakh for eliminating Mr. Amin. On his refusal to accept the “offer,” he was beaten up and his right arm was fractured by the jail police. He also claimed that he was threatened with dire consequences if he disclosed the matter to anyone.
Shakeel, who hails from Vadodara, was arrested in connection with a riot case there in 2006, and was lodged in the Vadodara Central Jail. But after some problems with inmates, he was shifted to the Sabarmati jail as one of the “dangerous prisoners.” He filed the application in the Vadodara court when he was taken from the Sabarmati jail to Vadodara in connection with the hearing in another case.
Mr. Amin himself had earlier expressed apprehension about threats to his life inside the jail from other co-accused who opposed his application for turning approver. He had requested the court to transfer him to some other jail and meanwhile strengthen his security cover, following which the jail authorities were ordered to provide him two armed border wing home guards. The court refused his transfer plea.
The Sabarmati jail authorities, however, have denied Shakeel's claim and described the assassination plot as a fit of imagination of the jail inmate. The authorities also claimed that Shakeel had fractured his arm when he slipped down and not because he was beaten up.
