In a setback for the Gujarat government, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a CBI inquiry into the November 2005 killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in an alleged fake encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. His wife Kausar Bi was also killed later and her body disposed of.
The case was being probed by the Gujarat SIT. Suspended IPS officer DG Vanzara and 13 other policemen are behind bars in connection with the killing of Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi.
The Supreme Court Bench of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Aftab Alam accepted the demand by Sohrabuddin?s brother Rubabuddin for a CBI probe.
Sohrabuddin, along with his wife Kausar Bi and another person, was picked up during a joint operation by the Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh police. They were taken off a bus while on their way to Sangli in Maharashtra from Hyderabad.
Sohrabuddin was gunned down, allegedly in a fake encounter in a joint operation by the Gujarat police ATS and Rajasthan police who claimed he had come to Ahmedabad to kill chief minister Narendra Modi. The accused policemen are also alleged to have killed Kausar Bi and Tulsi Ram Prajapati to destroy evidence.
On the direction for a CBI probe, the Gujarat government said it would take ?appropriate? action after studying the order. ?We are yet to receive the copy of the Supreme Court order, but we will take appropriate action after studying it,? said Gujarat health minister and spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas.
To a question whether the order was a setback, Vyas said: ?The state, obviously and naturally, must rely upon state agencies (for investigation). Because unless the state reposes that trust and faith in the state agency, it could be demoralising for them. Therefore, the state thought it fit that the matter be investigated by the state agency.?
In New Delhi, law minister M Veerappa Moily welcomed the Supreme Court order for a CBI probe into the incident, saying ?rule of law applies to every territory… territory of Gujarat is not exempted from enforcement of the rule of law.?