Gujarat IPS officer held in Sohrabuddin encounter case

Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhay Chudasama was on Wednesday arrested in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case, the fourth IPS officer to be taken into custody in the fake encounter episode.

CBI DIG P. Kandaswamy said they have arrested Chudasama, the city crime branch DCP. He is accused of conspiring to kill Sheikh.

In 2005 he was posted superintendent of police in Valsad district in south Gujarat.

This is the first arrest by CBI after the Supreme Court handed over the inquiry to investigating agency on January 12, 2010 to probe into the alleged fake encounter of Sheik and bumping off his wife Kauserbi and an accomplice.

Sheikh was allegedly killed by Gujarat Police with the help of their Andhra Pradesh counterparts in November 2005 claiming that he was planning to kill Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

DIG D.G. Vanzara, Raj Kumar Pandian of Gujarat cadre and Dinesh M.N. of Rajasthan cadre along with 11 other policemen are behind bars in the case.

CBI had registered a case in February against Gujarat Police officials under various sections of IPC including criminal conspiracy, murder and kidnapping.

The State CID, which had earlier investigated and arrested 14 policemen including three IPS officers had filed a charge sheet against them in the court.

The case has turned to be a major embarrassment for the Narendra Modi government in the Supreme Court which slammed the Gujarat government’s probe saying there were factual discrepancies in ATRs and the charge sheet.

The court had asked CBI to probe if there was any larger conspiracy to the killings and submit the report in six months.