Warrants against Amit Shah’s aides

AHMEDABAD: In fresh developments in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, the CBI court has issued non-bailable warrants against Yashpal Chudasama and Ajay Patel, two close aides of former Gujarat minister Amit Shah, who have now been declared absconders.
The warrant was issued by the chief additional judicial magistrate A I Raval on Monday after CBI probing the case, applied for their remand. According to the chargesheet filed by the CBI, after the probe in the case was transferred to the agency in January this year, Mr Shah directed Patel and Chudasama to “convince, coerce, threaten, influence the witnesses on his behalf to conceal the truth from CBI, about the fake encounter of Sohrabuddin.”

Investigation revealed that Patel conveyed a message to two witnesses Raman Patel and Dashrat Patel that what they would be deposing before CBI would be supplied to them in the form of written statements by DCP Abhay Chudasama, who is also an accused in the case. Both the witnesses had four meetings with middlemen sent by Mr Shah at four different places. These meetings were videographed by the two witnesses in a discreet manner. These audio-visual recording has been seized by the CBI.

“The transcription of these meetings revealed obstruction and influencing the witnesses of this case by Amit Shah and Abhay Chudasama,” the chargesheet said. “The audio-visual records also indicate that Ajay Patel and Yashpal Chudasama had actively participated in the main conspiracy and the crime committed in furtherance to the conspiracy,” it added.
Raman Patel and Dashrat Patel are owners of Popular Builders where Gujarat police had stage managed a shoot out using close aides of Sohrabuddin with the purpose of lodging FIR against the alleged gangster in Gujarat in December 2004, it further said.

The chargesheet said the complaint was filed against Sohrabuddin at the behest of Mr Shah who was under pressure from the marble lobby in neighbouring Rajasthan state. The CBI on Tuesday arrested Raju Jirawala, owner of the bunglow where Kausarbi was murdered. Raju is brother of Surendra Jirawala, BJP corporator from Ahmedabad. Arham bunglow is located on outskirts of Gandhinagar.

Raju was called for questioning and later arrested. He was then produced in the court of additional chief judicial magistrate for remand and charged by CBI for criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence and wrongful confinement.

Gujarat police on November 21, 2005, intercepted a luxury bus of Sangeeta Travels, in which Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausarbi were travelling from Hyderabad to Sangli. Police took Sohrabuddin into custody and asked Kausarbi to board the bus. But Kauserbi did not relent and the police took her along too, according to the CBI chargesheet. Both were kept in Disha Farm till night of November 25, 2005. Later, they were taken to Arham Farm from where Sohrabuddin was taken to Ahmedabad and killed in a fake encounter. Kausarbi was allegedly kept at the Arham Farm for the next few days before she too was killed, her body burnt and ashes thrown in the Narmada.