Tulsi Prajapati 'encounter' haunts Gujarat police

As another Indian Penal Service officer lands behind bars in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, killing of the key witness in the episode is now set to haunt the Gujarat police.

Tulsi Prajapati, Sheikh's friend and a witness in the encounter case, was gunned down in 2006.

"Eventually, it will have to be admitted that it was also a fake encounter," a senior official said, adding, "it has become increasingly evident that Prajapati's encounter is directly linked to the Sohrabuddin case."

Prajapati was shot dead in an 'encounter' by the special operation group of the Banaskantha police in 2006, at a time when the state criminal investigation department (crime), which was probing the Sohrabuddin case, was trying to reach out to him to record his statement.

"There are over a dozen policemen, including an Indian Penal Service officer, who will be in trouble if the state police admit that it was a fake encounter," the official added.

At present, the Prajapati case is being probed by the state CID (crime). "The case is being investigated so I cannot disclose any details at this point of time," said VV Rabari, additional director general and head of CID (crime).

The 2005 Sohrabuddin case is being handled by the CBI, which two days ago arrested Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhay Chudasama, the fourth IPS officer held in the case.