Fake encounter case; CID team records statement

Hyderabad, May 11: The Gujarat CBCID team, led by CID Inspector General Geeta Johri, today recorded the statement of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) DIG Radhakrishnaiah, an IPS officer of Gujarat cadre deputed to CRPF, in connection with the fake encounter of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausar Bi.

Mr Radhakrishnaiah is believed to be close to DG Vanzara, the DIG rank officer of Gujarat cadre, who had been arrested along with two other IPS officers in connection with the case.

Sources said Ms Johri, who came to the city as the head of the delegation on May 9 night to investigate the Andhra Pradesh police officials' role in the fake encounter, met Mr Radhakrishnaiah at CRPF office and recorded his statements, including the exact sequence of events in November 2005 when Rajkumar Pandian and his team met him in Hyderabad.

The couple -- Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi -- had been picked up by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad team, which intercepted the private bus, carrying them, on Hyderabad-Mumbai highway on November 22, 2005.

UNI