Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case: Former Gujarat cop DG Vanzara released

Gujarat Police has claimed Sohrabuddin Sheikh had links with Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT.

Mumbai: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Tuesday released former Gujarat Indian Police Service (IPS) officer D G Vanzara in the alleged fake encounter case of gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case. Rajasthan cadre IPS officer Dinesh MN, another alleged accused, was also discharged.

"Justice has finally been done," said Vanzara while reacting to the court's order.

Special CBI Judge Sunilkumar J Sharma released Vanzara and Deputy Inspector General of Police Dinesh MN Vanzara, who was arrested on April 24, 2007. The Bombay High Court had granted bail to Vanzara in September 2014.

Gujarat Police has claimed Sohrabuddin Sheikh had links with Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi were allegedly abducted by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad from Hyderabad on their way to Sangli in Maharashtra.

Sheikh was killed in an alleged fake encounter near Gandhinagar in November 2005, after which his wife disappeared and was believed to have been done to death.

Prajapati, an aide of the gangster and an eyewitness to the encounter, was allegedly killed by police at Chapri village in Gujarat's Banaskantha district in December 2006.

The Sohrabuddin killing case was transferred to Mumbai in September 2012 on the request of CBI for a fair trial.

In 2013, the Supreme Court had clubbed the alleged fake encounter case of Prajapati with that of Sheikh.

(With PTI Inputs)