CBI interrogates Shah but gets nothing

The close aide of chief minister Narendra Modi co- operated with the three- member team, led by SP Amitabh Thakur, but reportedly refused to give any “satisfactory” answer to questions over the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausarbi.

He kept reiterating that he couldn’t recall anything after so many years. “ I was neither present at the scene of the encounter nor was I aware of this matter.” That’s all he kept repeating.

Shah was specifically asked as to why he had made a series of calls to Gujarat DIG D. G. Vanzara, SP Rajkumar Pandiyan and deputy SP N. K. Amin between November 23 and November 30, 2005, when Sohrabuddin and Kausarbi were in illegal detention and were later killed.

Shah was asked whether he had ordered Kausarbi’s killing as he considered her a “dangerous witness” to Sohrabuddin’s encounter.

He was reportedly also confronted with evidence such as confessional statements from Ahmedabad’s Patel brothers who alleged that the former minister had extorted ` 70 lakh from them after Sohrabuddin’s encounter and that he had also tried to coerce them not to spill the beans in front of the CBI. He is denied all charges and alleged political vendetta against him during the video- graphed questioning session.

The questioning will continue on Thursday and the day after, a CBI official said.

On Thursday, the CBI is likely to frame questions regarding Shah’s relationship with marble traders and politicians of Rajasthan. The CBI chargesheet says Shah allegedly instructed Vanzara, Abhay Chudasama and Rajkumar Pandiyan ( all powerful IPS officers of the state) to eliminate Sohrabuddin, “ who was harassing rich marble miners and traders of Rajasthan”. It is also believed that the CBI is tightening its noose on two top Rajasthan BJP politicians who are believed to have asked Shah to reign in Sohrabuddin at the insistence of a top marble trader.

“ The fake encounter of Sohrabuddin had dual motive - one political and the other monetary,” the CBI chargesheet says.

The CBI is apparently undecided on whether to accept the plea of deputy SP Amin to turn approver in the case as he is considered to be central to the plot to kill Kausarbi. “ It all depends (on CBI accepting Amin as approver) on what Amin is willing to speak against the main protagonists of the crime - read Amit Shah,” a source said.

The designated CBI judge on Wednesday ordered the court registry to provide copy of the chargesheet to Amin, currently lodged in Sabarmati Jail.

He has decided to maintain silence until his application to turn approver is approved by the designated CBI court. I don’t want to divulge any details at this stage,” Amin, who was accompanied with his wife, said at the district and rural court in Mirzapur on Wednesday morning. “Now I am okay and everything is alright in Sabarmati Jail,” he added.

The CBI chargesheet speaks in detail on how Kausarbi’s body was burnt and disposed of but is silent on how she was killed and by whom.