The Congress on Monday raked up the decade-old Sohrabuddin encounter case and produced Call Data Records to allege that the Gujarat Chief Minister’s office was involved in the case in which three people, including the sole witness Tulsiram Prajapati were killed in an encounter.
The party said that since the Call Data Records (CDRs) pointed out that the Gujarat CMO was ‘monitoring’ the entire operation, Chief Minister Narendra Modi, also the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, is a ‘potential accused’ in the Prajapati murder case and should be interrogated by the CBI.
Hours after a rally at Hardoi, Modi promised to cleanse the political system and Parliament of criminal elements, Telecom and law Minister Kapil Sibal demanded the arrest and interrogation of one Parag Shah, who was earlier working in the Gujarat CMO. Sibal claimed Parag had held detailed talks with the police officer who allegedly executed the murder of Prajapati.
“This evidence has come for the first time, which shows that the CMO was directly involved in what was happening” with regard to the encounters, Sibal said, submitting the CDRs of conversations between Parag with Rajkumar Pandian, who “planned and executed the murder of Prajapati.”
Sibal said Parag, who was appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the CMO was also “associated with the cyber cell of the Anti-Terrorist Squad and earlier served as PA to former Home Minister lK Advani from June to December 1998.
“There can hardly be any doubt that the Chief Minister must have been aware of the Prajapati encounter carried out by police officers working in the ATS led by DIG DG Vanzara. Modi is a potential accused. The circumstantial evidence is clear. We are wondering why the CBI has not arrested Parag Shah and why Modi has not been interrogated. The nation needs to know. The CBI needs to answer. Courts in India should ensure that a proper investigation takes place with the interrogation and arrest of Parag Shah and the summoning of Modi for interrogation,” he said.
He said that during the “core period of criminal conspiracy” between November 2005 and December 2006, the total number of calls exchanged between Amit Shah, DG Vanzara, S Pandian Rajkumar and Dinesh MN has been reflected in the CBI charge sheet in the fake encounter case.
Presenting a detailed Press note and CDR accessed from a website “Truth of Gujarat”, Sibal also quoted Vanzara's remarks in his resignation letter to buttress the point that the Chief Minister was aware of the whole incident. “We being field officers have simply implemented the conscious policy of this Government which was inspiring, guiding and monitoring our actions from very close quarters,” he quoted Vanzara as saying.
Sibal said Prajapati was “required to be eliminated” because he was the only witness in the abduction of Sohrabuddin and Kauser Bi. “His testimony as a witness would have directly implicated all the accused,” he said.
According to Sibal, Parag is the brother of Hiten Shah, who was close to Modi since they were volunteers in the RSS and he looked after publicity. Releasing the call record details between Parag and Pandian, Sibal said what was not revealed is the number of phone calls between them along with the phone calls between Amit Shah and Pandian.
“Sohrabuddin was killed in an encounter with the police party on November 26, 2005 at Ahmedabad. Kausar Bi, his wife was murdered on November 29/30, 2005 and her body was disposed of. Prajapati was murdered in a police encounter on December 28, 2006. In all these cold blooded murders, Amit Shah is a co-conspirator...,” the law Minister said.