Role of AP police in fake encounter limited

NEW DELHI: The probe into the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a fake encounter in Ahmedabad has revealed that the Andhra Pradesh Police's role in the incident was limited and there is no evidence to connect them with the charge of murder, sources have said.

"Till now the evidence only shows that Andhra Pradesh policemen were present with Gujarat Police when Sheikh, his wife and a third person were abducted from a bus," an official closely associated with the case said.

The disclosure assumes significance as Sheikh's brother Rubabuddin Sheikh, who has sought the monitoring of the probe by the apex court, has alleged that Gujarat Police were not making efforts to identify the policemen from Andhra Pradesh who were involved in the killing.
   
His counsel contended during the last hearing of the case that the identification of the seven officers from Andhra Pradesh, who allegedly assisted Gujarat Police in abducting the victims when they were travelling from Hyderabad to Sangli in Maharashtra, will lead to the root of the conspiracy.
   
A senior police officer associated with the probe said an attempt was made to identify these policemen.

However, officers from Andhra Pradesh said their policemen gave "informal assistance to Gujarat Police", the officer said.
   
The question of identifying them will arise only if evidence emerges that they were either involved in keeping the victims in wrongful confinement or killing them, sources said.

"Till now, there has been no reliable evidence of the involvement of policemen from Andhra Pradesh in the murder of either Sheikh or his wife Kauser Bi," the officer said.

The evidence only suggests that they provided some facilities for the travel of Gujarat Police, he said.