A day after the CBI claimed two brothers of Sohrabuddin Shaikh were “deliberately” not receiving summons, the court heard on Saturday that Tulsiram Prajapati’s mother, expected to appear as a witness on Monday, too had refused to come. On Saturday, CBI investigating officer Vishwas Meena informed the court that while summons were received by a relative of Narmadabai, a resident of Madhya Pradesh, she was again contacted over phone to confirm her appearance. “Unhone kahaa main is case mein nahi aana chahti. (She said she doesn’t want to appear before the court). She also said her advocate should be contacted,” Meena told the court. The court will decide whether to send her further summons or a bailable warrant on Monday. Narmadabai had approached the Supreme Court in 2011 seeking a CBI inquiry into her son’s death. In her statement to the CBI, Narmadabai had spoken about the petition she filed and Tulsiram having told her before his death about the threat to his life as he had witnessed the alleged abduction of his associate Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausarbi in November 2005. Apart from Narmadabai, family members expected to depose as witnesses include his nephew Kundan, who is slated to appear before the court this month. On Friday, the court was informed that two of Sohrabuddin’s brothers were not receiving the summons to appear as witnesses. While the court issued a non-bailable warrant against Nayabuddin, attempts were made to again contact Rubabuddin, who is also expected to appear as a witness on Monday. Advocate Gautaum Tiwari, representing Rubabuddin, was present before the trial court. He said while Rubabuddin had participated in the proceedings before the Bombay High Court last month in the appeal he has filed against the discharge of three IPS officers, he had not given specific instructions regarding his appearance before the trial court on Monday. Rubabuddin had also filed a petition before the Supreme Court on the alleged fake encounter of his brother on November 26, 2005 and the subsequent murder of Kausarbi. On Saturday, Shahnawazuddin, also a brother of Sohrabuddin, was expected to appear as a witness. He, however, informed the court that he has fallen sick and will need bed rest for 15 days. The court assigned another date for his deposition.
