Surat police whisk away Sohrabuddin case witnesses

Surat crime branch, on Sunday, arrested three people, two of whom are key witnesses in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, for their alleged involvement in a land scam.

A Surat crime branch team picked up the brothers, Dashrath and Raman Patel, and their relative, Pankaj Patel, from Ahmedabad early on Sunday morning and whisked them away to Surat for questioning. According to the police, the three men were allegedly involved in a land scam and had purchased land worth Rs100 crore on the basis of forged documents.

Dashrath and Raman Patel are proprietors of Ahmedabad-based construction firm, Popular Builders, and are prime witnesses in the fake encounter case in which former Gujarat minister of state for home, Amit Shah, is the prime accused. Sources in the police said that a Surat crime branch team picked up Raman Patel when he had gone out for a morning walk. Dashrath Pankaj and Pankaj were sleeping in their houses when the police arrived and took them away.