Is Narendra Modi under CBI scrutiny in Sohrabuddin case?

Is Narendra Modi under CBI scrutiny in Sohrabuddin case?

Ahmedabad: After the arrest of his close aide and top minister Amit Shah, will the CBI now seek to question Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi?

Sources have told that the investigating agency may want Modi to answer some questions in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.

The CBI, sources said, wants to know if Modi was aware of the attempts being made by top police officials, allegedly in collusion with politicians like Amit Shah, to scuttle the probe into the Sohrabuddin encounter case.

While Amit Shah had the junior portfolio of Minister of State for Home, CM Modi held the post of Home Minister in 2007. He still does.

The sources also said that the CBI wants to know whether Modi was aware of decisions taken by Amit Shah.

The sources claimed that Modi had transferred a CID officer after he allegedly refused to dilute charges against senior cops like DG Vanzara. The transfer orders were given when the Sohrabuddin inquiry was at its peak.

If Modi is summoned for questioning, it will be for the second time this year. He was earlier questioned by a Special Investigation Team in a Gujarat riot case.

Sources also say the CBI is likely to file the status report on the case in Supreme Court today.

The BJP continues to react sharply. Tarun Vijay, BJP spokesperson said, “all these cases are a sham and nothing but a political revenge. Everyone knows Sohrabuddin was a dreaded terrorist and an anti-national person. The government is eyeing the Bihar, UP polls and using the CBI to intimidate the patriotic people of the country.”

As its investigation gathers speed, the CBI has also summoned a former Director General of Police of Gujarat PC Pandey.

Pandey was DGP when the state CID was investigating the fake encounter case and the CBI wants to find out whether Pandey tried to influence the investigation in any way.

He has been asked to appear before the investigating agency on August 11.

This is the first time that Pandey has been called in for questioning by the CBI. It had earlier questioned other IPS officers, including G C Raigar and O P Mathur.

There have been allegations that some police officials of Gujarat, in collusion with top politicians like Amit Shah, had tried to influence the probe. The Supreme Court handed over the fake encounter case to the CBI in January this year.

Apart from arresting Shah this weekend, the CBI has so far arrested IPS officer Abhay Chudasama and Rajendra Jirawala, the owner of Arham farm where Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife KAusarbi were allegedly held before being killed in 2005.
On Thursday, Amit Shah will face a second round of interrogation by CBI officials at the Sabarmati jail. The CBI had asked Shah 37 questions yesterday on the Sohrabuddin killing.

The CBI’s questioning comes amid many revelations, including an incriminating audio tape of a conversation secretly recorded by a former policeman NK Amin, who now wants to turn approver in the case.

Crucial call records also reveal that 25 calls were exchanged between Amit Shah and N K Amin in the days that Sohrabuddin and Kausarbi were picked up and killed.