The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed a supplementary chargesheet in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case against former Gujarat minister Amit Shah and owner of a farmhouse located on the city’s outskirts.
The chargesheet was filed in a special court in Ahmedabad. On July 23, the Central agency had filed a chargesheet against 15 accused in the five-year-old case.
Mr. Shah and Rajesh Jirawala, owner of ‘Arham’ farmhouse, where Sheikh and his wife Kausarbi were kept before being killed, were apprehended after the chargesheet was filed.
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Mr. Shah, a former minister of State for Home accused of extortion, kidnapping and murder, was arrested on July 25.
The close aide of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been described as “kingpin” of the conspiracy leading to the fake encounter of Sheikh, an alleged gangster, in November 2005 and subsequent killing of two key witnesses — his wife Kausarbi and associate Tulshiram Prajapati.
Mr. Shah is currently in Sabarmati Central Jail and his bail application is pending in the Gujarat High Court. The accused in the high-profile case include IPS officers D. G. Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian, M. N. Dinesh and Abhay Chudasama.
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According to the first chargesheet, “elimination of Sohrabuddin was being used for extortion by the accused to establish an element of fear in the minds of the businessmen and others.”