Another witness was declared hostile on Monday in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, taking the number of such witnesses to 45. The witness, Nagin Rathore, a teacher, was examined by the CBI before Special Judge S.J. Sharma.
Mr. Rathore had earlier made a statement to the CBI that he was asked by the principal of his school to go to the police headquarters in Sangli. There, he said, he was made to meet two witnesses, both Marathi-speaking. He claimed that he translated their statements, recorded in Gujarati, to Marathi for their benefit. However, he didn’t stand by this statement in court on Monday, and said he didn’t go to the police headquarters or meet anyone.
So far, 66 witnesses have been examined, of whom 45 have been declared hostile by the CBI. In October last year, the court had framed charges against 22 accused for murder, abduction and destruction of evidence under the IPC and the Arms Act in connection with the alleged staged encounter of Sheikh near Gandhinagar on November 26, 2005. All accused had pleaded innocence.
BJP president Amit Shah, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria, Rajasthan-based businessman Vimal Patni, former Gujarat police chief P C Pande, Additional Director General of Police (Gujarat) Geeta Johri and Gujarat police officers Abhay Chudasama and N K Amin have been discharged from the case.
Besides them, Yashpal Chudasama and Ajay Patel (both senior officials of the Ahmedabad District Co-operative Bank), Gujarat IPS officer Rajkumar Pandiyan and Andhra Pradesh-cadre IPS officer N. Balasubramanyam, Rajasthan IPS officer Dinesh M.N. and former senior Gujarat Police officer D.G. Vanzara have also been discharged.
Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi were allegedly abducted by the Gujarat police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad from Hyderabad on their way to Sangli in November 2005. According to the prosecution, Sheikh was allegedly killed in a fake encounter. Kausar Bi was also allegedly killed later. Sheikh’s aide Tulsi Prajapati, said to be a witness to the encounter, was allegedly killed by the police at Chapri village in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district in December 2006.
The case was transferred to Mumbai in September 2012 on the request of the CBI for ensuring a fair trial. In 2013, the Supreme Court clubbed the Sheikh and Prajapati encounter.
