Amit Shah likely to appear before media as CBI seeks trial outside Gujarat

Ahmedabad, July 25 (ANI): Former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to address media persons sometime today, even as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) continues to pursue him in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

Shah has been on the run for the last three days, attempting to evade arrest till Monday when his lawyers will probably move an anticipatory bail application before the Gujarat High Court.

According to television reports, he is likely to present a point-by-point defence against the charges leveled by the CBI.

Meanwhile, CBI sleuths have sought the help of Intelligence Bureau (IB) to trace Shah.

According to sources, apart from IB, the CBI sleuths have also formed five to eight teams to know the exact whereabouts of Shah.

A CBI court in Gandhinagar on Friday evening rejected Shah's anticipatory bail plea that he had filed through his lawyer to avoid arrest in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.

The CBI has filed a 30,000-page charge sheet against Shah, accusing him of complicity in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. They now want to conduct his trial and eventual imprisonment outside the state of Gujarat

Sohrabuddin and his wife were killed in an alleged fake encounter in 2005.

In March 2007, police said Sohrabuddin, belonged to 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 Kausar Bi had been killed by the police and her body burnt in an attempt to remove traces of the crime.

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

The admission came as a result of the intervention of Supreme Court, which ordered investigations into this case.

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 by July 31. (ANI)