‘Car used to dispose of body seized’

Vadodara: The car that was allegedly used by the cops for disposing body of custodial death victim Babu Sheikh Nishar has been seized by the Fatehgunj police. Investigators said that the car owned by one of the police constables has been sent for forensic tests. All the six cops accused of causing death of Babu Sheikh Nishar when he was in their custody are yet to be nabbed.
“During investigations, we learnt that one of the accused cops, Pankaj Mavjibhai, who is lok rakshak dal constable, had asked Fatehgunj head constable Maheshbhai to hand over his car keys on the day they had brought Sheikh to the police station. Mahesh gave his car keys to Pankaj in the evening,” said ACP Bakul Chaudhary, who is investigating the case.
“Pankaj returned the car to Mahesh the next day. We are hoping to find some clues from the car,” Chaudhary told TOI. When asked if the car’s movements can be checked through CCTV footages, Chaudhary said that images of the CCTVs installed in the city are stored for only one month.
Apart from Pankaj, five other cops including police inspector Dharmendrasinh Gohil, PSI Dasrath Rabari and LRD jawans Yogendrasinh Jeelansinh, Rajesh Savjibhai and Hitesh Shambhubhai, have been booked for custodial death of Sheikh. The cops have been accused of picking up Sheikh who was in the city in December 2019 and torchering him in Fathegunj police station.
While there are footages of Sheikh entering Fatehgunj police station, there is no evidence of him leaving. PSI Rabari had claimed that Sheikh had left the police station.