Omji Mathur is involved in fake encounter, allege BJP rebels

Gandhinagar, May 3 (UNI) The rebel leaders of BJP today demanded removal of national general secretary Omji Mathur from the party, alleging that he had fixed the killings of Sohrabuddin, his wife Kausarbi and his friend Tulsiram Prajapati under pressure from marble traders of Rajasthan.

According to reports, marbel traders had paid a hefty sum of Rs 50 lakh for the killing of Sohrabuddin, as he had been extorting money from the traders along with others.

Former minister in Modi government and ex-general secretary of Gujarat BJP Nalin Bhatt demanded the removal of national general secretary in a tripple murder case of Sohrabuddin, Kausarbi and Prajapati.

''When the needle of suspicion is pointed towards Mr Mathur, the central leadership of the BJP should take stern action against him and remove him from the post he holds at the Centre and the state,'' said Mr Bhatt.

Echoing Mr Bhatt's views, Vadodara former city BJP Vice-President Madanmohan Sharma said ''The involvement of marbal traders in Sohrabuddin killing has become a talk of the town in Gujarat, as it is believed that Sohrabuddin was bumped off at the behest of influential marble traders of Rajasthan who were victims of his extortion racket.'' ''This whole episode has brought disrepute to the BJP government in the state, which has ultimately weakened the morale of grassroot party workers,'' he added.

Mr Bhatt and Mr Sharma had jointly tendered resignation from the BJP some eight months ago, saying ''We are not against BJP. We are resigning against the autocratic style of governance of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Mr Mathur.'' ''We had repeatedly registered our protest against the central BJP leadership's decision to appoint Mr Mathur as general secretary of Gujarat BJP. It was only at the insistence of Mr Modi that Mr Mathur was elected to the post,'' Mr Bhatt said.

Giving the example of then national general secretary of BJP Sanjay Joshi's resignation in the wake of sex CD scam, Mr Bhatt said ''Mr Mathur should take a cue from Mr Joshi's resignation and step down from the post. If not proven guilty, Mr Mathur could resume his post.'' Effectively, the Gujarat government, headed by Narendra Modi, is facing a tough time after the reports about their killings surfaced.

UNI