Sting operation exposes misuse of CBI: Gujarat govt

The state government said on Tuesday that the sting operation involving Naimuddin, brother of slain gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh, has exposed that the Congress-ruled Central government was misusing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to harass the state government.

Its spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas said the sting operation aired by a TV channel had made it plain that probe agencies such as CBI were being misused. "The sting operation has revealed the truth and exposed Centre's motive of defaming Gujarat government," he said.

Vyas said that Naimuddin had said before the camera that not a single state minister or agency was involved in the Sohrabuddin encounter case. "On the contrary, Naimuddin clearly said that he was pressurised by CBI to speak against the state government," Vyas said. In the sting operation, Naimuddin claimed that the CBI had forged his statement in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. He told the undercover reporter that he was never threatened by the state government, as had been claimed by CBI.

He also refuted the CBI allegation that former home minister Amit Shah had tried to contact and influence him.

Quoting Naimuddin's revelation in the sting operation that the third person present when his brother Sohrabuddin and Kauserbi were brought from Hyderabad to Ahmedabad was Kalimuddin and not Tulsi Prajapati, Vyas said that this proved right the findings of the state CID (Crime). "However, some so-called NGOs challenged the probe conducted by state's police, which led to the case being transferred to the CBI.