Guj cops' statements nail trigger-happy brethren

It is quite ironic that statements of as many as four IPS officers, a DySP and a PI proved crucial in nailing their colleagues who allegedly killed Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati in fake encounters. This fact has been revealed by details of the latest supplementary charge sheet submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a Mumbai court.  

The CBI has mentioned as many as 342 statements, including those of many police officers. Of these 342, 11 were recorded under section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) – a statement recorded by a judicial magistrate – and can never be retracted.

Statements of Gujarat cadre IPS officers GC Raigar, Rajnish Rai, E Radhakrishnan and GS Malik helped the investigating agency establish the link between the cops accused of the two encounters and politicians. While Raigar’s revealed the conspiracy behind the Tulsi encounter, Rai’s statement connected all the missing links of the case.

Radhakrishnan, who was posted at Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Hyderabad in 2005, helped establish the connection between the police officers from Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Radhakrishnan was believed to be a close aide of DG Vanzara, believed to be the mastermind behind both encounters. Deputy superintendent of police MA Chavda, and retired police officer VL Solanki have also proved to be vital witnesses in the case.

Under section 164 of CrPC, the CBI also recorded the statement Ranvijaysingh Kalyansingh, who was then posted as police inspector in Mahavirnagar, Rajasthan. According to him, Vanzara and his wife were on a tour of Rajasthan when he had accompanied them on orders from Dinesh MN. Kalyansingh had mentioned in his statement that Vanzara met BJP leaders Gulabchand Kataria and OM Mathur in Jagmandir area of Udaipur on December 12, 2005 – a month after Sohrabuddin was eliminated.

Investigating the Tulsi case, the CBI had also accessed call data records (CDRs) of Amit Shah and had found important details about the former Gujarat home minister’s role in the encounter. According to the statement of a history-sheeter identified as Dinesh Gurjar (under CrPC 164), Tulsiram was a close aide of suspended IPS officer Abhay Chudasma.