The arrested police inspector, V. A. Rathod, is believed to have revealed before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that the body of Kausarbi, the wife of Sohrabuddin, was cremated at Illol village in Sabarkantha district, the native village of the former deputy inspector general of Gujarat police, D. G. Vanzara, the principal accused in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.
Mr. Rathod, who was earlier picked up by the state CID (Crime), which was investigating the case before the CBI, has reportedly told the investigating officials that he was among those present at Kauserbi's cremation at Illol village and had also made arrangements for firewood to burn the body.
Kauserbi's “disappearance” since the elimination of Sohrabuddin in an alleged fake encounter in November, 2005, remained a mystery for the investigating officials as nothing concrete so far was not found about her. The police only believed that Kauserbi was killed in a farm house on the outskirts of Gandhinagar, where she was lodged with her husband for a couple of days before Sohrabuddin's encounter, and later the body was taken to Illol. But investigating at the spot in Illol also did not yield much.
Mr. Rathod's confession would help to solve the mystery and the CBI to re-construct the entire event. Mr Rathod was also believed to have told the CBI the names of some other police officials to be present at Illol on that day and the roles each played in taking the body from Gandhinagar till the cremation of the body. He, however, said he had no idea how and where Kauserbi was killed and by whom.
Mr. Rathod along with Deputy Superintendent of Police N. K. Amin were taken on four days remand by the CBI for questioning and they will be in the police custody till May 24. The CBI sources, however, said Mr. Amin had so far refused to reveal anything and maintained his stand that he had been falsely implicated in the case and had played no role in the Sohrabuddin alleged fake encounter. The two were among the 15 policemen arrested in connection with the Sohrabuddin encounter by the State CID (Crime), while the CBI arrested one more IPS officer, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime branch), Abhay Chudasma, after it took over the investigation in February at the behest of the Supreme Court.
Two missing policemen
Meanwhile, the state CID (Crime), is looking for two police constables, Ajaypal Yadav of the Gujarat police and Dalpat Singh of the Rajasthan police, who were believed to have taken Tulsiram Prajapti, a close associate of Sohrabuddin and also a victim of fake encounter, in a car to Chhapri village on the highway near Ambaji on the Gujarat-Rajasthan border, where he was killed.
Both the policemen are reported to be missing since the arrest of police inspector Ashish Pandya, who was said to have opened the first shot at Prajapti even when his hands were tied behind his back. Ajaypal Yadav is also linked with the Sohrabuddin encounter as he was the person who was believed to have procured the motorbike found near Sohrabuddin on which the police claimed he was travelling and had fired at the police before he was “killed in the encounter.”
