Sohrabuddin Sheikh Encounter: Gujarat ex-top cop IG Vanzara, IPS officer Dinesh MN discharged

MUMBAI: Citing lack of evidence, the special CBI court here on Tuesday discharged former IPS officer from Gujarat D G Vanzara and Rajasthan cadre IPS officer Dinesh MN in the case of alleged fake encounters of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati. Special CBI Judge Sunilkumar J Sharma discharged Vanzara and Dinesh MN. Vanzara, a DIG-rank officer, was arrested on April 24, 2007 in connection with the alleged fake encounter of gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh, whom the Gujarat Police claimed had links with Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba. The Bombay High Court had granted bail to Vanzara in September 2014. Reacting to the court’s order, Vanzara said, “Justice has finally been done.” Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi were allegedly abducted by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad from Hyderabad on their way to Sangli in Maharashtra. Sheikh was killed in an alleged fake encounter near Gandhinagar in November 2005, after which his wife disappeared and was believed to have been done to death. Prajapati, an aide of the gangster and an eyewitness to the encounter, was allegedly killed by police at Chapri village in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district in December 2006. The Sohrabuddin killing case was transferred to Mumbai in September 2012 on the request of CBI for a fair trial. In 2013, the Supreme Court had clubbed the alleged fake encounter case of Prajapati with that of Sheikh. BJP National President Amit Shah was cleared of all charges in the case in November 2015. At least 15 accused have been discharged in the case by the court so far, The Indian Express reported.