CBI charges former Gujarat minister Shah
Former Gujarat minister Amit Shah, a close aide of chief minister Narendra Modi, was among 20 people named by the CBI in its chargesheet in the Tulsi Prajapati fake encounter case for allegedly entering into criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence.
Former state police chief P.C. Pande, IPS officers O.P. Mathur, D.G. Vanzara and Geetha Johri and Dy SP R.K. Patel were also also named in the chargesheet submitted in the court of judicial magistrate D.R. Joshi at Danta in Banaskantha district.
The three senior IPS officers named in the chargesheet included two who retired.
The chargesheet, however, was not taken on record by the court due to question of jurisdiction.
The court will decide in the matter after conducting hearing next Monday.
Prajapati, an eye-witness in the encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, was killed in fake encounter allegedly by the Gujarat police at Chhapri, in Banaskantha district on December 28, 2006.
In a major blow to the ruling BJP, Shah, who was arrested by the CBI in the Sheikh encounter case in 2010, has now been charged in the second fake encounter case of Prajapati for murder, criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence as also under the provisions of Arms Act. Shah is out on bail in the Sheikh encounter case but has been barred from entering Gujarat by the SC. Former DGP Pande has also been made accused in the Prajapati case. Mr Pande was chief of state police when the encounter took place in 2006.
Mr Mathur, retired ADGP who was then (in 2006) heading CID crime and the then IGP CID crime Johri, who was heading investigation in the Sheikh case, have also been booked as accused in the case.
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