Sohrabuddin Encounter: Builder brothers withdraw petition seeking CBI probe

After nearly eight years, the owners of Popular Builders, Dashrath and Raman Patel, have withdrawn their petition from Gujarat High Court seeking CBI investigation into the 2004 firing at their office. The Patel brothers, cited as key witnesses by CBI in Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case whose testimonies implicated several IPS officers including D G Vanzara and then minister of state for home Amit Shah, are behind bars in nearly a dozen FIRs registered since August 2020.

In 2013, the builder brothers had moved the high court requesting CBI investigation into the firing at their office executed allegedly at the behest of gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh. They had alleged, citing the CBI probe into the encounter, that the firing was part of a "conspiracy" by Gujarat policemen to implicate Sheikh in a criminal case for his encounter killing and extorting money from the brothers.

The court of justice Gita Gopi disposed of the petition while noting in her order passed on December 6 that petition stands disposed of as withdrawn.

In December 2004, two unidentified gunmen had opened fire at Popular Builders' office in Navrangpura in Ahmedabad. The receptionist, the lone eye witness, filed an FIR with Navrangpura police station, investigation of which was later transferred to the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB). One of the key suspects in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case, Vanzara, was posted with DCB as Deputy Commissioner of Police. Later, the case was transferred to Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), where also Vanzara supervised its investigation after his transfer there.

It was alleged that the firing was executed by Tulsiram Prajapati and Daniel Sylvester Desai, members of Rajasthan-based Sohrabuddin gang, to warn Patels to resolve a "monetary dispute". Later, the police booked Patels for destroying evidence in this case.

After CBI took over Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, the version changed and in 2010, CBI claimed that the firing was orchestrated by accused policemen to book Sheikh in a criminal case in Gujarat to justify encounter and extort money from Patel brothers. All the accused in the firing case became witnesses in the Sohrabuddin encounter case. Patels also conducted a "sting" on several persons including an IPS officer and gave testimonies to CBI alleging that the police officers were trying to extort money.

Over the years, suspects such as Shah, now the union home minister, ex IPS Vanzara, IPS officers Abhay Chudasama, Rajkumar Pandian, Rajasthan cadre IPS officer Dinesh MN, among others, were discharged by the special CBI court in Mumbai while several low rank accused policemen were acquitted. The CBI didn't challenge any of the orders. Appeals against orders of acquittal are pending in Mumbai high court filed by Sohrabuddin's brother Rubabuddin.

Barely a year after registration of FIR with Navrangpura police station, a team of Gujarat policemen killed Sohrabuddin in an encounter alleging that he was member of Lashkar-e-Taiba. A year later, his close aide Prajapati was also killed in the encounter. The whereabouts of Sheikh's wife Kauser Bi has remained a mistry. However, CID (Crime), which investigated the case initially, and CBI claimed that she was allegedly killed and cremated at Illol village in Himatnagar district.

CBI investigation alleged that Sheikh, Kauser and Prajapati had been picked up by accused Gujarat policemen from a passenger bus in Sangli, Maharashtra, while they killed Sheikh and his wife, Prajapati was let go only to be killed a year later.

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