Sohrabuddin case: Key suspect gets 72-hr bail

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday granted interim bail to IPS officer D G Vanzara, who is one of the prime suspects in the Sohrabbudin Sheikh fake encounter case of 2005.

Justice D N Patel upheld the arguments of advocate Ajay Chokshi, who appeared for Vanzara, that his client being head of a joint tribal family had to attend the marriage ceremony of his nephew.

In his order, Justice Patel ordered the Sabarmati Jail authorities to release Vanzara on February 24 for 72 hours. They were also asked to ensure Vanzara's return on or before 1700 hours on February 26.

Over two dozen police officials, including two IPS officers of Gujarat Police -- Vanzara and Rajkumar Pandyan --

and Dinesh Kumar of Rajasthan Police, had allegedly executed the encounter.

Sohrabuddin was reportedly gunned down on November 26, 2005, after being branded a Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant by the Gujarat Police. It was alleged that he had hatched a conspiracy to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The cops also allegedly killed Sohrabuddin's wife, Kausar Bi.

On the Supreme Court's directive, the Gujarat government had constituted a CID team under IGP Geetha Johri to investigate the case.