Another place, day but same police 145;encounter146; theory

An alleged encounter in 2005, which involved Gujarat ATS and Rajasthan STF, is back in focus after the Srinagar fake encounter case came to light. A CID probe into the 2005 case here has found 8220;discrepancy8221; in the police theory of encounter.

An alleged encounter in 2005, which involved Gujarat ATS and Rajasthan STF, is back in focus after the Srinagar fake encounter case came to light. A CID probe into the 2005 case here has found 8220;discrepancy8221; in the police theory of encounter.

On November 26, 2005, Shorabuddin Shaikh, a suspected LeT operative, was allegedly killed in an encounter in Ahmedabad. His wife, Kausar Bibi, has since been missing. Shaikh8217;s relatives suspect Kausar was also killed in the 8220;encounter8221; and her body disposed of by the police. They have filed a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court.

Shorabuddin8217;s brother Ruabuddin filed a petition in the Supreme Court on January 14, 2006, and his mother Jebunnisha filed another one on January 23 the same year.

According to Shorabuddin8217;s family, Kausar was with him when he was killed. The couple was picked up while they were travelling in a bus on Hyderabad-Mumbai highway, three days before the 8220;encounter8221;. But the Gujarat ATS maintains that Shorabuddin had entered Gujarat to kill a political leader and was riding a motorbike when he was killed near Vishala Circle in Ahmedabad.

The SC had sought a report from the Centre about the missing couple.

Meanwhile, based on another petition by the family, the Gujarat High Court had directed the DGP to order an inquiry. An inquiry conducted by the CID Crime and Railways, Gujarat, highlighted the discrepancy.

Ruabuddin and Jebunnisha said the couple was picked up from a luxury bus of Sangeeta Travels, hired by Khwaja Travels. The couple boarded the bus in Hyderabad, where they had gone to get some medical treatment. An inquiry report dated December 7, 2006, states, 8220;The enquiry officer obtained Shorabuddin and Kausar8217;s photographs from his family and showed them to the four passengers from the same bus. Two witnesses identified the photographs as that of the man and woman who were sitting in seat no 29 and 30. Besides, two armed men appearing to be police who got down from a Toyota Qualis and TATA Sumo, asked the passengers sitting on seat no 29, 30 and 31 to get off the bus for police checking. Based on the statements of various witnesses and subsequent identification of the photographs of Shorabuddin and Kausar, there appears to be some discrepancy regarding the presence of Shorabuddin and Kausar in Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, which needs to be further inquired into.8221; According to it, one more person, Tulsiram Prajapati, was also picked up.

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The report says relatives of Shorabuddin and Kausar at Jharnia, Nagda, Indore and Ujjain in MP said there was no information about the couple after November 22, 2005.

The CID inquiry is still on.