Cops intended to kill Sohrab in fake encounter'

Mumbai: Deceased Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s brother Rubabuddin’s lawyer on Monday argued before the Bombay high court that the police team, led by the then deputy SP Dinesh M.N., which went to nab Sohrabuddin, had no intention of arresting him and only wanted to kill him in a fake encounter.

Rubabuddin’s lawyer claimed that the true intention of the team was apparent from the fact that it was not carrying the case diary, which is necessary to seek remand. Neither was the investigating officer of the murder case in which Sohrabuddin was a wanted, informed about a team leaving for Ahmedabad to arrest Sohrabuddin.

Advocate Gautam Tiwari, on behalf of Rubabuddin, read out excerpts of the statements of some witnesses in the case before Justice A.M. Badar, to prove that although it had been shown that a joint team of Gujarat and Rajasthan went to Ahmedabad to arrest Sohrabuddin, the circumstances indicated that the team only intended to eliminate him.

Mr Tiwari pointed out to the court that police officer Rajiv Dasod, who was the immediate boss of Dinesh M.N., sought oral permission to travel to Ahmedabad to arrest Sohrabuddin but never told him that the accused had any links with the ISI as was claimed after his encounter. “The team was not carrying the case diary, which shows it did not have any intention of arresting Sohrabuddin,” said advocate Tiwari.