Almost a decade ago, Gujarat cadre IPS officer Geetha Johri took up the investigations into the Sohrabuddin Sheikh “fake” encounter case and exposed the purported role of several police officers in the incident.
However, after the Central Bureau of Investigation took over the probe, Ms. Johri herself was accused of destroying evidence.
In September 2012, the CBI filed charge sheets in the Sohrabuddin and Tulsiram Prajapati encounter cases against 37 persons, including the then Inspector-General of Police (Gujarat CID) Geetha Johri. She was also accused of delaying investigations in the Prajapati case.
After a special CBI court on Monday dropped all charges against the 1982-batch IPS officer for want of mandatory prosecution sanction from the State government, the agency said it is awaiting a certified copy of the court order to seek a legal opinion on the way forward. In 2006, Ms. Johri was appointed to head the probe into the death of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi, allegedly in a “fake encounter”. Based on the findings, over a dozen police officers, including D.G. Vanzara, were arrested. However, the charge sheet filed by her team attracted severe criticism. In January 2010, the apex court transferred the case to the CBI for a thorough investigation.
