Mumbai, December 28: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday slammed the CBI Sohrabuddin and Tulsi Prajapati encounter cases. The court accused the premier investigating agency of trying to implicate political leaders in the cases. The court said, “Premier investigating agency like CBI had before it pre-meditated theory and script intended to anyhow implicate political leaders and agency nearly did what was required to reach that goal rather than probing as per law.”

On December 21, a court in Mumbai dismissed pleas of witness seeking re-examination into the Sohrabuddin encounter case. The court also acquitted all 22 accused in the case due to the lack of evidence. The CBI court in its verdict pronounced that prosecution was unable to prove a conspiracy. The court also observed that circumstantial evidence is not substantial in spite of three investigations. Among the prime accused in the case was BJP national president Amit Shah -- who was acquitted in 2014. Sohrabuddin Encounter Case: Bombay HC Rejects Plea Against CBI Relief to Amit Shah.

Sohrabuddin Sheikh, an alleged gangster, and his wife Kauser Bi were killed in an alleged fake encounter in 2005 by the Gujarat Police. Meanwhile, his aide, Prajapati, was killed in another alleged fake encounter in 2006 in a joint operation by the Gujarat and the Rajasthan police. Meanwhile, out of the 210 witnesses brought in by the prosecution, 92 have been declared hostile.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 28, 2018 05:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).