Another witness in Sohrabuddin case turns hostile, 74 so far

Another prosecution witness in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati alleged fake encounter cases turned hostile on Tuesday, taking the number of such witnesses to 74.

Harish Kumar, a mobile shop owner from Patan, Gujarat, deposed as a 'panch witness' (a witness present during police procedures) before CBI judge S J Sharma in Mumbai.

As per his statement to the CBI, Kumar had said that when he was visiting his nephew, who was admitted at a hospital in Ambaji town, police showed him blood-stained clothes of Prajapati and the bullets recovered from his body.

He signed 'seizure memo' (list of seized articles from a scene of crime) as asked by police, he had told the CBI.

However, in the court on Tuesday, Kumar said his nephew had never been hospitalised.

He had gone to the Ambaji police station with a friend for some work on December 28, 2006 when police made him sign some document, he claimed.

He was never shown any seized article, Kumar told the court. Following which the CBI lawyer declared him hostile.

According to the CBI, Prajapati was taken to the Ambaji hospital following the alleged fake encounter.

The central agency has so far examined 125 witnesses, of which 74 have turned hostile.

Shaikh, a suspected gangster, and his wife Kauser Bi were killed in an alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat Police in November 2005.

Prajapati, his aide, was killed in another alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat and Rajasthan Police in December 2006.

Of the 38 people charged by the CBI for the alleged fake encounters, 15 have been discharged by the trial court in Mumbai.