Bombay HC rejects Pandian bail plea in Sohrabuddin case

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rejected the bail application of suspended IPS officer of Gujarat cadre Rajkumar Pandian. Pandian is under judicial custody in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai in connection with Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauserbi’s encounter killings.

The CBI had opposed the bail application saying that the accused policeman is a key accused who had picked up the duo from Hyderabad before they were killed in the alleged fake encounter. On the other hand,Pandian had stated in the bail application that CBI didn’t have evidence against him and he was wrongly arrested in the case.

Pandian,along with IPS officer Abhay Chudasma,Rajasthan cadre IPS officer Dinesh M N and other low-rank policemen are lodged in Taloja jail after the Supreme Court transferred the trial to Mumbai from Ahmedabad.

The other accused IPS officer,D G Vanzara,was brought back to Ahmedabad in Ishrat Jahan and others’ encounter and remains lodged in Sabarmati Central Jail. Former minister of state for home and BJP leader Amit Shah,who is out on bail,is also an accused in the case.