Court gives anticipatory bail to two in Sohrabuddin killing

GANDHINAGAR - The Gujarat High Court Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to two co-operative bank officials who are accused in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh staged shootout case. They were earlier declared absconders for evading arrest.

Ajay Patel, chairman of the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank, and Yashpal Chudasama, a member of the bank, were declared absconders after they failed to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), probing the shootout case.

Justice R.H. Shukla granted anticipatory bail to the two, who will now have to present themselves before the CBI court.

Counsel J.M. Panchal, who appeared for Chudasama, and counsel Uday Lalit, who appeared for Patel, took the plea that the names of the two did not appear in the case immediately after the shootout which took place in November 2005.

According to counsel, the CBI had accused the two of threatening witnesses and extorting money, which was a bailable offence.

Panchal took the plea that their names had never figured in connection with the killing of Sheikh or his wife Kauserbi.

The high court Sep 3 issued notice to the CBI on the anticipatory bail plea filed by Chudasama and Patel.

A special CBI court Aug 26 rejected the anticipatory bail application of both Chudasama and Patel against whom non-bailable warrants were issued for the Sohrabuddin killing.

Special CBI judge G.K. Upadhyay, while rejecting the plea, said that since a non-bailable warrant was pending against them in a serious offence, their application for anticipatory bail could not be entertained.

The court said since the charges against Chudasama and Patel were threatening the witnesses and involvement in the destruction of evidence, their plea should be rejected.

The two have been on the run after their names appeared in the charge sheet filed by the CBI in the Sohrabuddin killing case.

Chudasama and Patel’s lawyers contended that they were not involved in the shootout which took place in November 2005.

The CBI opposed the contentions, saying that since a non-bailable warrant was pending against them, anticipatory bail could not be granted to them.

According to investigating agencies, Patel and Chudasama actively participated in the main conspiracy behind Sohrabuddin’s killing.

Sohrabuddin and his wife were picked up by a joint team of the Gujarat and Rajasthan police while they were on their way from Hyderabad to Sangli Nov 23, 2005.

They were brought to Ahmedabad and are suspected to have been kept at Arham farm house near here.

While Sohrabuddin was killed in a staged shootout a few days later, his wife Kauserbi disappeared without a trace till date.