IPS officer arrested in Sohrabuddin encounter case seeks bail

MUMBAI: An IPS officer, arrested in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, today moved the local court for bail arguing that CBI does not have any evidence against him.

Abhay Chudasama, a former DCP, Gujarat police, says in the bail application that as per the CBI's own case, Sheikh was "a golden hen" for Gujarat police, and there was no reason for them to eliminate him.

Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi were allegedly abducted by Gujarat's Anti-Terrorism Squad from Hyderabad and killed in a fake encounter near Gandhinagar in November 2005. Tulsiram Prajapati, a key witness to the encounter, was allegedly killed by police in Banaskantha district of Gujarat in December 2006.

The Supreme Court last year transferred the trial of the case to Maharashtra after CBI said that witnesses were being intimidated and a fair trial was not possible in Gujarat.

Senior Gujarat BJP leader Amit Shah -- a former minister in Narendra Modi government -- is one of the accused in this case and now he is out on bail.

The CBI alleges that Shah was the "kingpin" of the conspiracy. Most other accused in the case are policemen.

The sessions court is likely to hear the application later this week.