The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is expected to interrogate former Gujarat minister of state for home Amit Shah in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, has built up a watertight case, agency sources have told rediff.com.
The CBI court has issued non-bailable warrants against Yashpal Chudasama and Ajay Patel, two close aides of former Gujarat minister Amit Shah, who have now been declared absconders, in the Sobrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
Facing charges of murder and kidnapping, Shah, a close associate of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, said the charges against him were "fabricated and politically motivated".
The Centre berated the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday for its "angry" reaction to the Central Bureau of Investigation pursuit against Gujarat Minister Amit Shah, saying it was "belated and simulated".
'I find it shocking that no action has been taken by the state government against him. I find it shocking that he continues to be the home minister of Gujarat.' Gujarat Congress spokesman Arjun Modhwadia on the Amit Shah case.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Friday demanded the resignation of Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah in view of the CBI naming him as an accused in the chargesheet filed in the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh.
Claiming that the ruling party is using the country's premier investigating agency to fulfill its "political agenda", senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley skipped a lunch hosted by the prime minister on Friday
Indian Police Service officer G L Singhal, prime suspect in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, has been issued a warning by a court hearing the Naroda Patiya riot case after he failed to appear before it despite summons.
A day after the Special Investigation Team concluded that Ishrat Jahan and three others were killed in a fake encounter in Ahmedabad, her family members on Tuesday said their stand has been vindicated. "I have always said that my daughter was not at fault and this has been proved by the SIT report. Our demand for a CBI probe into the killing is still pending," Ishrat's mother Shamima Kausar told a news conference.
The court is hearing a case against army officer Major Surinder Singh, who is accused of having stage managed the encounter.
An Indian American Muslim advocacy group on Monday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia to monitor and ensure an intimidation free Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the alleged fake encounter killings of Soharabuddin, his wife Kausarbi and his associate Prajapati allegedly at the hands of the Gujarat police.
They include Geetha Johri, who was the Investigating Officer when the case was being probed by the State CID, according to CBI sources. The central agency has also called Rajneesh Rai, who was the one who had arrested three IPS officers, D G Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian and Dinesh M N, considered to be main conspirators behind the encounter of Sheikh and disappearance of his wife Kauserbi in November 2005, they said.
A Gujarat high court judge on Friday recused himself from hearing the bail plea of suspended Indian Police Service officer Abhay Chudasama who was arrested on the charge of being the key conspirator in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
Upset over 'the Republic killing its own children', the Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Centre and the Andhra Pradesh government on a plea for judicial probe into the killings of top Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar and journalist Hemchandra Pandey in an alleged fake encounter six months ago.
'Avoid rushing into any financial transactions or disclosing personal information.'
The Gujarat police continued to help Chief Minister Narender Modi's close aide Amit Shah even after his arrest for his alleged role in the killing of gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh in the fake encounter, Central Bureau of Investigation said in a report submitted to the Supreme Court on Thursday.
In a big embarrassment to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked its senior counsel K T S Tulsi to withdraw from the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case as he had earlier appeared for the Gujarat government. "To be very honest with you, I do not think it is proper for you to appear in the case. You are a very senior member of the Bar. The state government might not have objected but it is not proper for you," a SC bench said.
Former Gujarat minister Amit Shah, arrested in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, is threatening witnesses from inside jail, Central Bureau of Investigation counsel K T S Tulsi informed the high court on Tuesday.
In a fresh embarassment to the Narendra Modi government, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed all further proceedings in the Gujarat High Court relating to the alleged fake encounter killing of a teenaged girl Ishrat Jahan and three others, on suspicion of being terrorists, by the state police.
The aim behind the arrest of former Gujarat Minister Amit Shah by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case was to target Chief Minister Narendra Modi, his counsel Ram Jethmalani said in an Ahmedabad court.
Gujarat former minister Amit Shah, arrested in connection with the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, has asked the Supreme Court to recall its order for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe on the grounds of "bias", levelling allegations of conspiracy against its judge and the Centre.
One of the Patel brothers, who are key witnesses in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, on Monday said they were living in constant fear after giving a statement before the Central Bureau of Investigation. "You all must have been hearing in the media about our statements before the CBI which are facts. If I were to describe our experience in short you will be shocked," said Raman Patel, of Popular Builders.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation court reserved till August 26 its order on a plea by N K Amin, an accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, to turn an approver in the 2005 episode.
Seeking to give a new twist in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter killing case, noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani questioned the Supreme Court order for the Central Bureau of Investigation probe into it saying it was passed by a bench headed by a judge, who was himself under the agency's scanner in a criminal case.
The hearing on the bail plea of former Gujarat minister Amit Shah, arrested in connection with the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, was adjourned till August 17 by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Rediff.com takes a look at some controversial clients and high-profile cases taken up by Ram Jethmalani over the years.
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the conviction and life sentence of 10 Delhi Police officials including an Assistant Police Commissioner for killing two businessmen in a fake encounter in 1997, terming the incident as part of a "common intention" to kill the victims.
Hitting out at the Centre and the Central Bureau of Investigation, Chief Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that the agency's plea to the Supreme Court to shift the Sohrabuddin case outside Gujarat was an insult to the judicial system of the state.
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 Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday filed a status report on the progress of the probe in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case in which former Gujarat minister and Narendra Modi's close aide Amit Shah has been arrested.Apex court sources said that CBI officials had submitted the report in a sealed cover to the Registry.The other main accused in the case are suspended Deputy Inspector General D G Vanzara and Rajkumar Pandian, both Gujarat cadre IPS officers.
A local court in Ahmedabad on Thursday acquitted six persons accused of hatching terror conspiracy to avenge the 2002 communal riots.
The Central Bureau of Investigation's probe has revealed that Sohrabuddin Sheikh's wife Kausarbi was killed in a farmhouse on outskirts of Gandhinagar, her body was burnt and ashes were thrown in Narmada river near Bharuch.
The top Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant commander claimed to be have been killed by the army and police in a joint operation on Sunday in Jammu region turned out to be a mentally challenged civilian.
The mother of Ishrat Jahan, the college student who was allegedly killed in a fake encounter by the Gujarat police in 2004, on Tuesday demanded stringent punishment to all those involved in her daughter's killing.
A day after her daughter was absolved of the charges by an Ahmedabad metropolitan magistrate, Shamima Jahan alleged that Ishrat, a student of Mumbai's Khalsa College, was eliminated as part of a "cold=blooded conspiracy" by the police. Right from the Mumbra police, who picked up Ishrat from her home, to their counterparts in Ahmedabad, who "killed her in cold blood", everyone did it for publicity, she alleged
The alleged encounter killing of Communist Party of India Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad took a new twist on Saturday after it was revealed that the other 'Maoist leader' killed in the encounter was actually a freelance journalist from Delhi. The man has been identified as Hemchandar Pandey, 32, a resident of Dewaltal village in Pithorgarh in Uttarkhand. Pandey was a freelance journalist working in Delhi.
The Bombay high court order quashing the gag order on reporting the court proceedings in the Sohrabuddin encounter case is a victory for every journalist and Indian, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police has sought the custody of an army colonel, a major and four others for custodial interrogation in the alleged fake encounter of three youth in Machil sector in frontier district of Kupwara in April this year.
Not everyone will achieve orgasm the first time they have sex, says Dr Anagha Karkhanis. Never fake one if you have not.
Notwithstanding opposition from the Army and faced with reports of fake encounters, the government is planning to go ahead with certain amendments in the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which includes handing over of an Army personnel in case of extra-judicial killings to the state authorities.