Ahmedabad/New Delhi, July 25: Gujarat’s controversial former minister of state for home, Mr Amit Shah, a close associate of the Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, was finally arrested by the CBI on Sunday for his role in the fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and others five years ago.
Mr Shah, who resigned as a minister on Saturday after being chargesheeted by the CBI in the case and had been on the run for almost three days, was arrested by CBI officials almost immediately after he reached its office here on Sunday afternoon accompanied by some state BJP leaders. He was then taken to magistrate A.Y. Dave’s house, who remanded him to 13 days in judicial custody at Sabarmati Central Jail.
Mr Shah, who had been charged with murder and many other crimes, arrived at the CBI’s Gandhinagar office at around 2 pm to answer the summons sent to him. He had been missing since Thursday and had not appeared before the CBI for questioning despite repeated summons.
Mr Shah had sent his resignation letter to the Chief Minister on Saturday, and it was subsequently forwarded to the Governor.
Earlier in the day, Mr Shah made a dramatic entry at a press conference called by the state BJP unit to declare that he was innocent, and that he would go straight to the CBI office for questioning. Surrounded by posters carrying slogans proclaiming his innocence and attacking the Congress Party and the CBI, Mr Shah said calmly that all the charges against him were “fabricated and politically-motivated”, and vowed to “expose” those who were trying to “frame” him.
“The chargesheet has been made at the behest of the Congress. It is fabricated, and had nothing to do with my summons. We will fight the legal battle, and expose those who have tried to wrong us in court,” he said.