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Gujarat encounter case accused cop reinstated

The Gujarat government has raised eyebrows in police circles by not only revoking suspension of yet another Indian Police Service (IPS) officer accused in a sensational encounter case but also reinstating Abhay Chudasama and giving him a plum posting.

Trigger-happy Chudasama, who is on bail after spending four years in prison in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh bogus shootout case, has been reinstated as Superintendent of Police (SP) of Gandhinagar-based powerful DGP Vigilance Squad as part of routine transfers on the eve of the Independence Day.

His new post is considered as a powerful position since the DGP’s monitoring cell has powers to conduct raids anywhere in Gujarat state to curb crimes.

Only three months ago, the Gujarat government had reinstalled IPS officer G L Singhal who is an accused in the infamous Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

Chudasama, a 1999 batch officer, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April 2010 for his alleged involvement in the Sheikh fake encounter case. After spending four years in jail, Chudasama was granted bail on April 28 by the Bombay High Court where the case was transferred by the Supreme Court.

Sheikh and his wife Kausarbi were abducted and killed in 2005, near Gandhinagar in a fake shootout. Sheikh, who was accused of having links to Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba, and his wife were abducted by Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorism Squad when they were on their way to Sangli in Maharashtra from Hyderabad.

The CBI has said Sohrabuddin had demanded a hefty protection money from a businessman and this was the prime reason why he was eliminated.

mahesh@khaleejtimes.com