Top Gujarat cop arrested in Sohrabuddin fake encounter case

Ahmedabad, Apr.28 (ANI): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Abhay Chudassama for his role in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.

Chudassama is currently serving as the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Crime Branch) at Ahmedabad and was formerly Superintendent of Police, Valsad.

Sohrabuddin and his wife were killed in fake encounters in 2005.

In March, 2007, police said that Sohrabuddin Sheikh, belonged to the Pakistan linked terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba and was planning to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to avenge the death of Muslims killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The government also admitted that Sohrabuddin's innocent wife Kausarbi had been killed by the police and her body burnt in an attempt to remove the traces of the crime.

The Gujarat Government admitted that senior police officers were directly involved in the killing of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, and his wife, Kausar Bi, in 2005.

The admission came as a result of the intervention of India's Supreme Court which ordered continued investigations into this case

In February this year, a CBI team visited Gujarat to take charge of the case from the Gujarat Crime Investigation Department (CID).

The Gujarat CID had filed a charge sheet against 14 police officials including suspended Deputy Inspector General (DIG) D G Vanzara and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers -- Rajkumar Pandyan and M N Dinesh.

The CBI took up the case on directions of the Supreme Court. Earlier, the apex court had asked the CBI to probe if there was any larger conspiracy to the killings and submit the report within six months for its perusal.

In the same month, the Supreme Court rejected the bail application of Indian Police Service (IPS) officer M N Dinesh, an accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

Dinesh is a Rajasthan cadre officer.

An apex court bench consisting Justice P Sathsivam and Justice H L Dattu, however, granted liberty to the IPS officer to move the Gujarat High Court with his plea and treated his bail application as "dismissed as withdrawn". (ANI)