Gujarat cop held in Prajapati killing sent to police custody

GANDHINAGAR - Gujarat Police inspector Ashish Pandya, who was arrested from Rajkot Thursday for his role in the killing of Tulsi Prajapati in an alleged fake gun battle, was presented before a Danta court Friday and remanded in 12-day police custody.

Pandya, who refused a lawyer and argued his case in person, has denied all the charges made out by the police. He is the fifth policeman to be arrested in the case.

He was arrested when he reported at the anti-corruption bureau office in Rajkot. Pandya has been named a key man by the CID in the alleged fake gunfight in which Tulsi Prajapati, an associate of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, was killed.

Prajapati, who was believed to be a key witness to the fate of Sohrabuddin, was allegedly killed near Ambaji on the Gujarat-Rajasthan border in December 2006.

The case is believed to be connected with the Sohrabuddin fake gunfight case.

Fifteen policemen have been arrested for the November 2005 killing of Sohrabuddin, who, police then claimed, was killed in a shootout near Ahmedabad Nov 28, 2005. His wife Kauserbi has been missing since then.