NEW DELHI, 15 May 2007 — The Gujarat state government yesterday informed the Supreme Court that one of the three arrested police officers of the state has confessed his role in the staged killing of Ujjain resident Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi.
In its latest status report on the ongoing investigation by the state police, submitted to the top court, Inspector General of Gujarat Police Geeta Johri said three more police officials have been arrested for their roles in the November 2005 killings, a state government counsel told reporters.
In her report, she said one of the police officers, whose statement was recorded in the presence of a magistrate, has confessed to his role in the killing of Sohrabuddin.
Apprising the court of the arrest of seven policemen and about some imminent arrest, Johri said, “Scientific evidence was awaited in this case. Investigation conducted was consistent with the guilt of the accused arrested so far.” She told the court more arrests could be made.
In the report submitted to the court in a sealed cover, the police officer also said that the police had obtained the telephonic conversations records of the accused persons before and after the killings.
“The statements given by various witnesses in the case completely corroborated with these records,” the report said. Detailing the ongoing police investigation, also into the roles of some Andhra Pradesh policemen, Johri told the court in her report that the government would file a separate report on the probe related to the role of Andhra Pradesh police in the crime.
The state government’s report also enclosed the interim reports of Johri, who was in charge of the investigation initially and had blew the lid off the staged killings in her interim enquiry reports last year.
It was on her report that the state police arrested three senior IPS officers — Deputy Inspector General D. G. Vanzara and Rajkumar Pandiyan of Gujarat police besides Superintendent of Police M.N. Dinesh of Alwar in Rajasthan for their roles in the staged killings.
