Sohrabuddin encounter case: CBI court acquits all 22 accused due to lack of evidence

Sheikh, a gangster was reported to have alleged links with terror organisation. His wife Kausar Bi was also killed that month.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the case in 2010, had filed a case against 38 people, including then Gujarat home minister (and now BJP president Amit Shah) and senior Gujarat and Rajasthan police officials. / Image: PTI

New Delhi: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai on  Friday acquitted all 22 accused in the sensational Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.  The Special CBI judge observed in his order that all the witnesses and proofs were not satisfactory to prove conspiracy and murder. The court also observed that circumstantial evidence is not substantial.

 In the case, a total of twenty-two people, mostly officers of the Gujarat and Rajasthan police, were on trial for killing Shaikh, a gangster in an alleged fake encounter in November 2005.

Sheikh, a gangster was reported to have alleged links with terror organisation. His wife Kausar Bi was also killed that month and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati shot dead in another encounter by the Gujarat and Rajasthan police in December 2006. The prosecution examined 210 witnesses, of which 92 turned hostile. After the final arguments were wrapped up earlier this month, special judge for CBI cases S J Sharma had said he will pronounce the verdict on December 21. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the case in 2010, had filed a case against 38 people, including then Gujarat home minister (and now BJP president Amit Shah) and senior Gujarat and Rajasthan police officials. However, a special court in Mumbai, where the case was shifted from Gujarat following a Supreme Court order in 2013, had discharged 16 of them, including Amit Shah and senior police officers like Gujarat police chief PC Pande and anti-terror squad chief DG Vanzara. The Bombay high court had later rejected the plea of Sheikh’s brother Rubabuddin against the discharge of Vanzara and four other police officers.