The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Gujarat’s former IPS officer DG Vanzara, more than seven years after his arrest in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
Justice AM Thipsay of the High Court ordered Vanzara’s release on a bond of Rs2 lakh and one surety of the like amount or a bond of Rs1 lakh and two sureties of the same amount, whichever suited him.A Deputy Inspector General-rank officer, Vanzara was arrested on April 24, 2007, along with two other IPS officers Rajkumar Pandian and Dinesh MN, in connection with the alleged staged killing of gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh, who was alleged to have had links with lashkar-e-Taiba. Sheikh's wife Kausar Bi was also allegedly by Gujarat police.
The Judge directed Vanzara to surrender his passport to CBI and present himself before the trial court in Mumbai every Monday, Wednesday and Friday till the completion of the hearing in the case.
Justice Thipsay made it clear to Vanzara that in case he wanted exemption from appearance in the court, the latter would have to give a prior notice to the trial court. While granting bail, Justice Thipsay also warned Vanzara against tampering with evidence or threatening witnesses. Though granted bail in Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, Vanzara will not be released from the jail, since he has not got similar reliefs in Ishrat Jehan and Tulsiram Prajapati encounter cases.
Sohrabuddin, an underworld criminal, his wife Kauser Bi and Tulsiram Prajapati were traveling in a bus from Hyderabad to Sangli in November 2005 when they were allegedly abducted by the Gujarat police. Sohrabuddin and his wife were allegedly killed in a staged encounter near Gandhinagar a few days later.
Prajapati, an eye-witness to the encounter, was killed by police at Chapri village in Banaskantha district of Gujarat in December 2006.The Soharbuddin and Prajapati encounter cases were transferred to Mumbai following a Supreme Court order. Both the Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Prajapati encounter cases are being heard simultaneously in a Mumbai Court.
Vanzara is also being tried in the case involving the alleged staged killings of Mumbra girl Ishrat Jahan and three others. Ishrat and three others, who were claimed to have links with leT, were killed by the crime branch sleuths of the Ahmedabad police June 15, 2004.