It is the first time that such a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party has been arrested for such a serious crime, even though there have been demands, all in vain, for arresting other BJP leaders for their complicity in the 2002 Godhra riots.
For former Gujarat minister of state for home Amit Shah, the countdown to his arrest began once the Supreme Court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in January 2010 to probe the death of Sohrabuddin Shaikh.
Before that, the probe was being carried out by the Gujarat Police CID (criminal investigation department), under the supervision of Geetha Johri, police commissioner of Rajkot, and which appeared to be making little headway, prompting the SC to hand over the case to the CBI.
On July 25, Shah’s luck finally ran out and he was arrested by the CBI, but not before he addressed a press conference claiming innocence and blaming the Congress for his troubles. Shah, considered a close confidant of chief minister Narendra Modi, was picked up after three and a half years of investigation, and five years after Sohrabuddin Shaikh was gunned down on November 26, 2005.
It is the first time that such a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party has been arrested for such a serious crime, even though there have been demands, all in vain, for arresting other BJP leaders for their complicity in the 2002 Godhra riots.
Meanwhile, the CBI surprised everybody on Sunday by not asking for Shah’s remand. Instead, the team of CBI sleuths, accompanied by its DIG, P Kandaswamy, requested he be placed in judicial custody.
Sources said Shah’s arrest drama took place in a very short time, giving the probe agency little time to prepare its documents for seeking Shah’s remand. The agency is likely to move an application asking for remand in a couple of days.
According to legal provisions, the CBI could have kept Shah in custody for 24 hours and produced him before the court on Monday morning. But looking at the security and other consequences following Shah’s arrest, the agency did not want to take any chance. Now that Shah has been sent to Sabarmati jail, the CBI will get time to prepare application for his remand.
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