Sohrabuddin case: CBI quizzes Gujarat cop for 9 hours

GANDHINAGAR - Police commissioner of Gujarat’s Rajkot town Geetha Johri was quizzed for almost nine hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) here Thursday in connection with the 2005 staged killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh.

She arrived at the CBI office here around 10.30 a.m. and left around 7 p.m.

This is the second time that she is being questioned by the CBI, the first time being in March this year.

Johri had avoided two previous CBI summons, issued Aug 10 and Aug 20. The first was on grounds that she was busy with the arrangements of the state level Independence Day celebrations and the second citing ill health.

Johri was the supervising officer of the Sohrabuddin case when she was posted in the Gujarat state CID (Criminal Investigation Department) between 2007 and 2009 while the Supreme Court was overseeing the probe.

She came under a cloud for her handling of the investigations and was pulled up by the apex court. The case was finally taken away from the Gujarat CID (crime) and handed over to the CBI.

After Thursday’s questioning, Johri is likely to be recalled for questioning again soon along with her former boss and the then additional director general of police O.P. Mathur who was heading the state criminal investigation department.

He has since retired and now heads the Raksha University, a brainchild of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.