The CBI filed a 30,000-page chargesheet on Friday naming Gujarat minister of state for home Amit Shah as one of the accused in the fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin and the subsequent murder of Sohrabuddin’s wife, Kauser Bi, in 2005.

Besides Mr Shah, the chargesheet also names 14 others, including deputy inspector-general of police D.G. Vanzara, superintendents of police Rajkumar Pandian and M.N. Dinesh, and deputy superintendents of police M.L. Parmar and N.K. Amin. “The chargesheet has been filed under IPC Sections 120-B (conspiracy) read with 342 (wrongful confinement), 364 (kidnapping and abducting to murder), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person) and 368 (keeping in confinement kidnapped or abducted person). The other sections are 384 (extortion), 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of valuable evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offenders) in the fake encounter slaying of Sohrabuddin and the murder of his wife, CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal said, adding that the agency has asked the court to keep the investigation open to probe the larger conspiracy.
The minister and two of his associates — Mr Ajay Patel, chairman of the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank, and Mr Yashpal Chudasama, a director of the same bank — are absconding and the agency has launched a hunt to arrest them. The general mood of the public in Ahmedabad is that it was shameful that the man responsible for law and order situation in Gujarat has himself been declared an absconder and is running for cover to evade arrest. “They will be arrested anytime, the hunt is on,” a senior official involved in the investigation said.
Mr Shah became a factor that united various factions of the BJP in the state after he failed to get anticipatory bail or any interim relief, making his arrest imminent after he failed to appear before the CBI twice after being served summons. The BJP claims the CBI has become a tool to harass and embarrass the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat, which is in dock for its role in the fake encounter case. As many as 14 senior police officers are already in jail in connection with the case.
Sohrabuddin, a gangster, was killed after he was identified as a terrorist on a mission to kill Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. It was later revealed that he was killed because he was part of an extortion racket, and because his demands were increasing. It has been alleged that the police officers who earlier patronised him bumped him off. However, they also killed his wife Kauser Bi, and an old accomplice, Tulsiram, who had actually tipped off the police about Sohrabuddin’s whereabouts.
Mr Shah had issued an emotional statement Thursday night saying he would appear before the CBI on Friday. He kept the CBI and media waiting for over six hours. His lawyer later moved an application for anticipatory bail, but this was rejected. The CBI, meanwhile, filed a 30,000-page chargesheet accusing the minister of various crimes.
Mr Amit Shah continues as home minister of Gujarat even though the CBI has declared him an absconder. The BJP confirmed he was yet to resign from the state Cabinet. “I am not aware about his resignation,” was Gujarat government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas’ reply when contacted.
On Friday, the accused minister had sent his lawyer to the CBI seeking to know what questions the agency would pose to him and seeking an extension of the time limit for preparation. The agency officials turned down the request. “We have followed the process of law and given him (minister) enough time to present himself as he is acquainted with the circumstances of the case. But now he stands as an accused to be arrested as and when spotted,” a key agency official said. “The agency is in possession of sound evidence suggesting the minister’s complicity in the crime of the staged shooting of Sohrabuddin and the killing of his wife. Moreover, he had prior knowledge of the encounter and he authorised the same to his trusted police officials (sic),” he added.
Meanwhile, the special CBI court rejected Mr Shah’s plea for anticipatory bail. The minister’s lawyer contended that Mr Shah feared arrest by the CBI, which wants to allegedly implicate him politically.
The CBI, which began its investigation after a Supreme Court order in January 2010, has so far arrested Mr Abhay Chudasama, DCP of Ahmedabad, in connection with the case. The agency has examined 278 witnesses, collected 191 documents and 70 material objects during the course of an investigation spread across five states — Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The CBI has nine witnesses recording their statements before a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC, which is admissible evidence in court.
“We have got witnesses talking about extortion and how false cases were foisted upon some builders and businessmen linking them with the underworld and then extorting huge amounts of money from them,” the official added. A witness has alleged to the agency that he had paid Rs 70 lakhs to Mr Shah, allegedly through Mr Ajay Patel, which was confirmed by Mr Patel. This is one of the main grounds on which the CBI hopes to nail the Gujarat home minister.