Sohrabuddin case: Mumbai court seeks report on security to accused

Mumbai: A local court directed the Maharashtra government to file a report on security arrangements undertaken for the 11 accused involved in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. Eleven accused including former Gujarat DIG DG Vanzara were shifted to the Arthur Road jail in Central Mumbai following an order passed by the Supreme Court transferring the trial in the case to a special CBI court here. Soon after shifting, the accused moved an application seeking to be moved back to Gujarat besides asking for a video conference trial citing an intelligence report of Maharashtra government apprehending threat to them. Following the application, additional metropolitan magistrate Anis Abdul Jabbar Khan directed the accused to be shifted to Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai. [caption id=“attachment_549864” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Amit Shah is one of the accused in the case. AFP[/caption] While the authorities at Taloja jail had earlier assured the court that enough security measures were made available to the accused, the court today sought a report from the state government by 13 December. Out of total 19 accused, eight are out on bail. This includes former Gujarat minister Amit Shah, who had to quit the Modi government soon after the abduction and murder case was slapped against him. He was arrested in July 2010 but released on bail after spending three months in jail. On 27 September, the Supreme Court had ordered the transfer of the case to Maharashtra after CBI submitted that witnesses were being intimidated and a free and fair trial was not possible in Gujarat. Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausarbi were allegedly killed by Gujarat Police in an encounter near Ahmedabad in November 2005. PTI