Sohrabuddin fake encounter case: CBI threatened me to give false statement against accused, says officer

The CBI had claimed that the officer gave a statement before a magistrate on August 25, 2011, in which he named then Udaipur SP Dinesh M N — who was an accused in the case but discharged in 2017 — and Rajasthan Police inspector Abdul Rehman and Gujarat policeman R K Patel, who are currently facing trial. It claimed that the statement has evidence pertaining to the conspiracy by Gujarat and Rajasthan policemen to kill Tulsiram in a fake encounter.

On Friday, the witness told the court, “I never gave a statement to the CBI. I was called by the CBI five or six times at various places, including Udaipur and Mumbai. All these times, I was threatened by CBI officers who said I will be implicated in the crime.”

“When I was called to Mumbai, Kandaswamy, an IPS officer with the CBI, threatened me and said I should give a statement as per their choice. I was compelled to make a statement before the magistrate as tutored by them under the threat of being arrested,” he told the court.

The witness told the court that he was taken to the magistrate’s court in Navi Mumbai on the premises of the CBI office. “The CBI officers were standing at the entrance of the court hall. They told me that if I don’t make a statement as tutored by them, they will arrest me when I step out of the court,” he told the court.

The witness was declared hostile by the prosecution. So far, 82 witnesses have deposed, of whom 55 have not supported the prosecution and have been declared hostile.