Sohrab case result of police, political rivalry: Accused

Mumbai: An accused in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh “fake” encounter case told a special court on Monday that the entire case against him was "false and fabricated".

“This case (Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter) is the result of police and political rivalry,” said Narainsinh Dabhi, the retired police inspector from Gujarat before the special CBI court, while answering questions put to him by the Judge under section 313 of the CrPC.

Dabhi was the first accused whose statement the court recorded Monday under section 313. Under this section, an accused gets an opportunity to personally explain any circumstances appearing in the evidence against him.

The Judge asked Dabhi more than 400 questions under section 313. When the Judge asked him if he wanted to say anything about the case, he said, “The evidence against me is false, fabricated, manipulated and concocted, and I have nothing to do with this (encounter) case.”

“I have not committed any crime as charged or alleged against me. The entire case is on account of political rivalry between two political parties and senior police officials. I have no personal grudge against the deceased,” he said.

Dabhi, former PI with the Gujarat ATS, is accused of being part of the team that killed Sohrabuddin on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in November 2005.

The prosecution case is that a police team first abducted Shaikh and his wife Kausar Bi. Later, they killed Shaikh in a fake encounter and also murdered his wife. Shaikh’s aide Tulsiram Prajapati was an eyewitness to the abduction and hence, he, too, was killed in a fake encounter in December 2006 to eliminate evidence of Shaikh’s encounter.

Of the 38 people charged by the CBI for the alleged fake encounters, 16, incl-uding BJP chief Amit Sh-ah (who was the then minister of state for home, Gujarat) and all senior police officials have been discharged. Currently, 22 accused are facing trial.