The focus of Rajasthan BJP’s jail bharo agitation from June 1 would be on CBI’s chargesheet implicating its leader Gulab Chand Kataria in Sohrabuddin encounter case.
According to party general secretary Kalicharan Saraf, though the party would also highlight the corruption in UPA Government and price rise during the agitation, the main focus would be Kataria issue, which is the hot political topic in the State.
It seems that the encouraged by the response to its Rajasthan Bandh on May 18 on CBI’s move against Kataria in Sohrabudddin encounter case, party leadership has formulated a strategy to hamper on this issue.
On May 14, CBI had filed a supplementary chargesheet in a special court in Mumbai on which it had made Kataria, Vimal Patni, a leading marble trader of the State and two police officials of Andhara Pradesh as accused in the case. Court had ordered all the four to appear before it on June 4.
Chargesheet said that Sohrabuddin had demanded Rs 24 crore from Patni as protection money. Instead of paying this amount Patni got in touch with Kataria, the then Home Minister of the State, and through him met
Amit Shah, then Home Minister of Gujarat, to arrange the killing of Sohrabuddin. Chargesheet claimed that Patni had paid Rs 10 crore to Shah to arrange the elimination of Sohrabuddin.
On Friday, the CBI court had given interim relief to Patni by allowing him to appear before it on June14 instead of June 4. The court had also given similar relief to N Balsubramanim, IG rank IPS of Andhra Pradesh cadre and G Sriniwas Rao, an inspector of AP. As Kataria has not sought any relief, he would appear before the court on June 4.
Soon after filing of chargesheet by the CBI, Kataria and other State BJP leaders apprehended his arrest on June 4. On its part, Kataria is maintaining that he is innocent and CBI is making efforts to implicate him in the case under the pressure from ruling Congress.
Kataria had said that he would not seek bail or any other relief from the court. If he was arrested, he would resign from the membership of the Assembly and would not contest any election till he was exonerated from the charges by the court.