The Central Bureau of India on Friday asked the Supreme Court to shift the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case outside Gujarat for a fair trial and placed before it records to back up allegations of involvement of top police brass in his killing.
The CBI in its status report into its six-month old investigation into the sensational case does not make a direct mention of Chief Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the case but has annexed the "internal memo" which makes a reference to him and the then director general of police P C Pandey.
CBI has summoned Pandey for questioning. The central probe agency wanted the transfer of the case since it expressed doubts over the conduct of free and fair trial in Gujarat, saying "the atmosphere is not conducive in the state".
"The internal memo relating to former DGP P C Pandey and Modi is a part of the document in the status report and affidavit filed by the CBI," sources associated with the status report said.
The investigating agency has said there was reasonable apprehension that influential politicians and bureaucrats would make all possible efforts to derail the trial in the case.
Sheikh was killed in a fake encounter near Ahmedabad on November 26, 2005. The sources said the CBI has given full details about its investigation which led to the arrest of Amit Shah, a former Gujarat minister of state for home and Modi's close aide.
The status report and affidavit were filed by the Chief Investigating Officer Amitabh Thakur who had led the team to interrogate Shah in judicial custody.
Besides examining the internal memo having reference of Pandey and Modi, the investigating agency might extend its arm of probe to neighbouring state of Rajasthan as one of the senior Indian Police Services officers is already chargesheeted in the case, it said.
The report said that it has to plug the loopholes to complete the sequence of events as earlier investigations have given sketchy findings about Tulsiram Prajapati who was allegedly accompanying Soharabuddin and his wife Kauser Bi in the bus from which the victims were picked up.
Prajapati was also killed in a police encounter. The sources said CBI will seek extension of time to probe the disappearance of Prajapati.
The Supreme Court on January 12 has handed over the investigation of the case to the CBI asking it to place before it the report on the progress of the probe within six months by July 31.
In addition to Shah, the other main accused in the case are suspended DIG D G Vanzara and Rajkumar Pandian, both Gujarat cadre IPS officers and Dinesh M N, a Rajasthan cadre IPS officer.
After CBI took over the case, another senior Gujarat cadre IPS officer Abhay Chudasama was arrested on April 28. Sheikh, an alleged gangster, was killed allegedly by Gujarat police with the help of Andhra Pradesh police claiming he was planning to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
