The CBI inquiry into the Tulsiram Prajapati encounter case has revealed that suspended Gujarat IPS officer D.G. Vanzara, who was transferred from the ATS to the Kutch border range on December 13, 2006, allegedly spoke to Vipul Agarawal, then Banaskantha SP, a few hours before the Tulsiram encounter on December 28.
CBI sources said their probe has revealed that Vanzara allegedly arranged the encounter death of Tulsiram, who was a material witness to the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi.
Sources said the CBI, which recently questioned former Gujarat home minister Amit Shah on the Tulsiram case, will question Vanzara by the end of January.
Shah, now on bail after being arrested in the Sohrabuddin case, has been asked by the Supreme Court not to enter Gujarat as the CBI alleged he may tamper with the evidence or intimidate witnesses.
“The probe revealed both Tulsiram and Sohrabuddin were wanted by the Navrangpur police station (Ahmedabad) in an incident of firing in 2004. This case was later transferred to the Ahmedabad crime branch when Vanzara was DCP there,” a source said. Vanzara was shifted on July 29, 2005 from the crime branch to the ATS.
“When Sohrabuddin was killed in an encounter on November 26, 2005, Tulsiram Prajapati was arrested by the Rajasthan police near Udaipur the same day”, the source said.