Sohrabuddin's brother moves Bombay HC challenging DG Vanzara's acquittal

Gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh's brother Rubabuddin on Monday moved the Bombay High Court challenging the discharge granted by special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court to former Gujarat top cop DG Vanzara and Rajasthan IPS officer Dinesh MN.

Rubabuddin's plea states that "there is insurmountable evidence against Vanzara which undisputedly proves the existence of a prima facie case against him." It also adds that "the lower court judge not only chose to discard the testimony of more than 40 prosecution witnesses, but also completely ignored the irrefutable evidence on record, such as the phone call records between Vanzara and the other accused".

The petition, which will soon be heard before Justice Aukat Prabhu Desai, states that, "The act of giving specific instructions to the policemen to go to Hyderabad in order to bring Sohrabuddin, his wife Kauser Bi and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati, the act of taking part in the fake encounter of his brother, the act of taking part in the plot of killing Kausar Bi and thereafter disposing her body, the act of being involved in the fake encounter of Tulsiram, the act of trying to influence the course of justice by intimidating/threatening witnesses to give false statements, the act of destroying evidence and the act of running an extortion racket can by no stretch of reasoning be said to be an act falling within the ambit of official duty."

A special CBI court on August 1 discharged Vanzara and gave relief to Dinesh MN in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case citing lack of evidence.

The special CBI court Judge SJ Sarma had discharged Vanzara considering the quality of material on record against retired DIG DG Vanzara and taking into consideration the entire prosecution story, "To my mind it is clear that there is no prima facie material against the accused to connect him to the abduction followed by killing of Sohrabuddin, Kausar Bi and Tulsi Prajapati none the less as one of the main conspirator". This is what the court has said in its 40-page order while discharging Vanzara, the accused number one in the fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin and two others.

Vanzara, who is an accused in the fake encounter cases of Ishrat Jahan and Sohrabuddin Sheikh, was released on bail in February, 2015 after spending almost seven and half years in prison. There are 23 others who are still accused in the case though everyone is out on bail. The top cop was arrested on April 24, 2007 by CID crime in connection with the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.

Rababuddin had earlier challenged the discharge of BJP leader Amit Shah from the case but had decided to suddenly withdraw his plea in 2016.

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