Sohrabuddin case: Congress tried to frame Amit Shah, alleges BJP
TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Updated: Jan 1, 2019, 17:08 ISTHighlights
- There’s a clear proof of political conspiracy by the Congress against BJP president Amit Shah, said Smriti Irani
- On December 21, a special CBI court had acquitted all the 22 accused in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh due to insufficient evidence while expressing sorrow over the loss of three lives
NEW DELHI: Union minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday led a scathing attack on the Congress saying the party misused the central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2010 to frame BJP president Amit Shah in Sohrabuddin Shaikh case.
The BJP leader hit out at Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, alleging Shah, who was then a minister in the Gujarat government led by Narendra Modi, was harassed by the CBI at the behest of the Congress leadership as Modi and Shah were identified by it as main rivals.
She alleged that evidence was "manufactured" in an attempt to "destroy" Shah politically.
She also accused Congress chief Rahul Gandhi of supporting a terrorist, a reference to his tweet on the verdict in Sohrabuddin Shaikh case that "nobody killed" him and he "just died".
The remarks came a day after the copy of the 358-page judgement of the court in the case was made available only on Monday.
On December 21, a special CBI court had acquitted all the 22 accused in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh due to insufficient evidence while expressing sorrow over the loss of three lives.
The court said though the prosecution "tried", it failed to prove any "politician-police" nexus in the alleged fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati.
Of the 22 accused who were acquitted, 21 were junior level police officials from Gujarat and Rajasthan police.
The three victims who were returning to Sangli in Maharashtra from Hyderabad in a bus were taken into custody by a police team on the intervening night of November 22-23, 2005. The couple was taken in one vehicle and Prajapati in another.
The CBI had said Shaikh was killed on November 26, 2005, allegedly by a joint team of Gujarat and Rajasthan police, and Kausar Bi three days later.
Prajapati, who was lodged in Udaipur Central Jail, was killed in an encounter on the Gujarat-Rajasthan border on December 27, 2006, the investigation agency had alleged.
The court also noted that the prosecution had failed to prove that Prajapati was killed in a fake and staged encounter.
The CBI had charged 38 persons, including BJP chief Amit Shah, who was the then Gujarat home minister, Gulabchand Kataria, the then Rajasthan home minister, and senior IPS officers like D G Vanzara and P C Pande in the case.
Shah was arrested in the case in July 2010, but released on bail by the Gujarat High Court in October that year. He was discharged by the CBI court in December 2014.
(With agency inputs)
The BJP leader hit out at Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, alleging Shah, who was then a minister in the Gujarat government led by Narendra Modi, was harassed by the CBI at the behest of the Congress leadership as Modi and Shah were identified by it as main rivals.
She alleged that evidence was "manufactured" in an attempt to "destroy" Shah politically.
She also accused Congress chief Rahul Gandhi of supporting a terrorist, a reference to his tweet on the verdict in Sohrabuddin Shaikh case that "nobody killed" him and he "just died".
The remarks came a day after the copy of the 358-page judgement of the court in the case was made available only on Monday.
On December 21, a special CBI court had acquitted all the 22 accused in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh due to insufficient evidence while expressing sorrow over the loss of three lives.
The court said though the prosecution "tried", it failed to prove any "politician-police" nexus in the alleged fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati.
Of the 22 accused who were acquitted, 21 were junior level police officials from Gujarat and Rajasthan police.
The three victims who were returning to Sangli in Maharashtra from Hyderabad in a bus were taken into custody by a police team on the intervening night of November 22-23, 2005. The couple was taken in one vehicle and Prajapati in another.
The CBI had said Shaikh was killed on November 26, 2005, allegedly by a joint team of Gujarat and Rajasthan police, and Kausar Bi three days later.
Prajapati, who was lodged in Udaipur Central Jail, was killed in an encounter on the Gujarat-Rajasthan border on December 27, 2006, the investigation agency had alleged.
The court also noted that the prosecution had failed to prove that Prajapati was killed in a fake and staged encounter.
The CBI had charged 38 persons, including BJP chief Amit Shah, who was the then Gujarat home minister, Gulabchand Kataria, the then Rajasthan home minister, and senior IPS officers like D G Vanzara and P C Pande in the case.
Shah was arrested in the case in July 2010, but released on bail by the Gujarat High Court in October that year. He was discharged by the CBI court in December 2014.
(With agency inputs)
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