Friday, August 31, 2012

CBI gets one-month extension for Sohrabuddin and Tulsiram cases

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the Sohrabuddin and
Tulsiram encounter cases has got an extension of four weeks. The CBI
filed a report in the Supreme Court on Saturday citing circumstances
that developed in last few days to get an extension to complete
investigations.
The CBI demanded a period of one month to finalise the report in
Tulsiram encounter case. The SC, in its last hearing, had asked the
CBI to submit the final report in Tulsiram encounter case by June 30
and had given specific orders to finish the investigations in the
given time and seek no more extensions.
A source in CBI said, “The extension was sought after a meeting with
the top officers in Delhi. The sources said in the meeting there were
difference of opinion among the CBI officers on filing the charge
sheet in the Tulsiram encounter case. The CBI team that is probing the
Tulsiram case at present was asked to submit a charge sheet and
complete the investigations of the Sohrabuddin encounter case by mid
July. The sources said that last week’s developments in the Tulsriam
case investigations had a major role to play in seeking “last minute”
extension.
The CBI in their probe so far had reached to a conclusion that the
third person travelling with Sohrabuddin and wife Kausar Bi was
Tulsiram Prajapati. The CBI believes that Tulsiram was eliminated
because he was a witness to the abduction and murder of the couple.
The Gujarat Police’s CID had, however, concluded that the third person
was Kalimuddin and this loophole required to be plugged this time.
A source in the CBI added, “The officers who probed the Tulsiram
encounter case earlier have striking differences in opinion on the
reasons behind the tampering of evidences in this case and reasons
behind derailing the case investigations in 2006 when it was with the
Gujarat Police”.
The CBI had grilled retired police officer O P Mathur and IPS officer
Geetha Johri on both the Sohrabuddin and Tulsiram encounter case on
June 25 and June 27 respectively.
According to sources, Mathur has again pointed fingers at Geetha Johri
and pleaded ignorance on the tampering of the call records CDs.
Johri had prepared two CDs of call records that had vital details on
calls made by Minister of State for Home Amit Shah and jailed police
officers D G Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian and Dinesh M N. Mathur is
believed to have told the CBI again that the CDs were in possession of
Geetha when the tampering happened.
Moreover, Johri had concluded in her action taken reports to the SC
during her probe as IG CID in 2006, that the third person was
Kalimuddin. Sources say Mathur and Geetha have given different
statements on this too. The sources stated that Mathur had denied
allegations on pressurising Geetha during investigations reportedly
telling CBI that if she was under pressure he did not know.
Sohrbauddin and wife Kausar Bi were killed in an encounter on November
2005 in Ahmedabad while Sohrabuddin’s aide Tulsiram was killed in
December 2006 in Ambaji.
With four more weeks to probe the case now, the CBI is expected to
plug these loopholes and produce a final report of the Sohrabuddin and
Tulsiram encounter case.