Andhra Pradesh IPS officer discharged in Sohrabuddin encounter case

Mumbai: A special CBI court on Monday discharged AP cadre IPS officer N. Balasubramanyam from the Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter cases for the want of evidence.

Special CBI judge M.B. Gosavi observed that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prosecute Mr Balasubramanyam, who was IG, intelligence, of undivided AP during that time.

Mr Balasubramanyam is transport commissioner on deputation with AP. According to the CBI, Mr Balasubramanyam had booked a room in the AP police officers’ mess for Rajkumar Pandian, a co-accused in the Sohrabuddin killing.

It was also alleged that when Sohrabuddin was picked up along with his wife Kauser Bi, Gujarat police officer D.G. Vanzara had a conversation with Mr Balasubramanyam. However, nothing could be proved in court.

BJP president Amit Shah was recently discharged in the case. The Gujarat police allegedly abducted Sohrabuddin, a gangster, and his wife Kausar Bi from Hyderabad on their way to Sangli in Maharashtra. He was killed in a fake encounter near Gandhinagar in November 2005, after which his wife disappeared and was believed to have been killed.