Six top Gujarat cops to be quizzed in Sohrabuddin killing

GANDHINAGAR - The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday summoned six senior officers of the Gujarat police, both serving and retired, for questioning in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh killing case.

The six Indian Police Service (IPS) officers are former additional director generals of police (DGPs) O.P. Mathur and G.C.Raigar, ADG (Criminal Investigation Department) V.V.Rabari, Rajkot Police Commissioner Geetha Johri, Police Training School (Chowki) principal Rajnish Rai (holding the rank of deputy inspector general), and Superintendent of Police Anti-Terrorist Squad G.L. Singhal.

All the six have been asked to present themselves before the CBI between May 3 and 7.

Mathur was looking after the CID (crime) when Rai arrested the three IPS officers - D.G.Vanzara and SPs Rajkumar Pandian and M.N.Dinesh (of Rajasthan’s Udaipur) in connection with the fake gun battle killing of Sheikh. Mathur had succeeded Raigar to the post.

Subsequently under Supreme Court directions, the case was handed over to Johri. But unhappy with her handling, the apex court finally handed over the case to the CBI, leading to the arrest Wednesday of the fourth IPS officer, Abhay Chudasama, who is posted as deputy commissioner of police in Ahmedabad.

Johri and Rai have already been informally quizzed by the CBI and have now been summoned formally.

According to highly placed sources, a key piece of evidence - the CD carrying the details of calls made by Vanzara and other key officers during the period that Sohrabuddin was picked up by police - was made available to the CBI by Rai and led to Chudasama’s arrest.

The crucial CD was missing from CID records but Rai reportedly made available a copy, the sources said.

Meanwhile, two policemen, who served as drivers of Chudasama, have gone missing. The two had not maintained the logbook of his official vehicle which could have provided information of his movements to the CBI.