Sohrabuddin encounter case: Special CBI court discharges Guj IPS officer Abhay Chudasama

Gandhinagar, Apr 29: A special CBI court on Wednesday discharged Gujarat Police officer Abhay Chudasama in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

Earlier last year, the Gujarat government had reinstated the IPS officer, who is an accused in Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case and gave him a plum posting as Superintendent, DGP Vigilance Squad.

In December last year, a CBI Court in Mumbai, while looking into the Fake Encounter cases, discharged BJP president Amit Shah in connection with this case

Abhay Chudasama who spent four years in prison, is the first Sohrabuddin Sheikh case accused IPS official was reinstated by the Gujarat state government. Earlier, the Gujarat state government had reinstated IPS officer GL Singhal who is an accused in Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

As per a notification issued by the state home department in Aug, last year, Chudasama, who was granted bail on April 28, 2014, has been reinstated as Superintendent of Police (SP) of Vigilance Squad in the DGP's office, Gandhinagar.

Presently called the State Monitoring Cell, the squad works directly under the Gujarat state Director General of Police (DGP). However, popularly, the cell is still referred to as "DG Vigilance Squad".

The post of a Superintendent of Police in the Monitoring Cell is considered as a powerful position, since the cell has powers to conduct raids anywhere in Gujarat state to curb crimes.

Chudasama, who is a 1999 batch officer, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April 2010 for his alleged involvement in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. Allegedly, Sheikh and his wife Kausarbi were abducted and killed in 2005, near Gandhinagar in a fake encounter.

After spending four years in jail, Chudasama was granted bail on April 28 by the Bombay High Court.

The case related to the fake encounter of Sheikh and the murder of his wife Kausar Bi was transferred to Mumbai by the Supreme Court.

Other IPS officers accused in the case include D G Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian, who are both from the Gujarat cadre and Dinesh M N of the Rajasthan cadre, the Gujarat state home department notification said.

Earlier, on May 28, the Gujarat state government had reinstated Singhal, who is one of the accused in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.

OneIndia News

(With inputs from agencies)