Sohrabuddin trial: Two more witnesses turn hostile; 47 so far

Two more witnesses were today declared hostile during the trial of Sohrabuddin Shaikh alleged fake encounter case before a Mumbai court, taking the number of such witnesses to 47. Mohamad Naimuddin and Shilpan Singh, two prosecution witnesses, were examined by the CBI before special judge S J Sharma. According to the agency, Naimuddin, an employee of a private bus service, had stated that he remembered picking up five passengers, including a woman, in Hyderabad on the morning of November 22, 2005. According to the CBI, one of these passengers was Shaikh, who was abducted by a team of the Gujarat Police when he was travelling by a private luxury bus from Hyderabad on the same day, and was later killed.

However, during his deposition today, Naimuddin did not stand by his earlier statement. Shilpan Singh, as per his statement to the CBI, was a 'panch witness' who was present when specimen signature of one of the accused in the case was obtained. He too told the court that he was not present on the occasion. As both didn't support the prosecution's case, the CBI lawyer declared them hostile. So far, 65 witnesses have been examined, of whom 47 have been declared hostile by the CBI. The Mumbai court last October framed charges against 22 people, including police officers, for murder, abduction and destruction of evidence under the Indian Penal Code and for offences under the Arms Act in connection with the alleged staged encounter near Gandhinagar on November 26, 2005.

Shaikh, an alleged gangster with terror links, and his wife Kausar Bi were allegedly abducted by the Gujarat Police's Anti-Terrorism Squad from Hyderabad on their way to Sangli in Maharashtra. According to the prosecution, Shaikh was killed in the fake encounter. Kausar Bi, who disappeared, was also allegedly killed later. Tulsi Prajapati, an aide of Shaikh who was said to be a witness to the encounter, was allegedly killed by police at Chapri village in Gujarat's Banaskantha district in December 2006. The fake encounter case was transferred to Mumbai in September 2012 on the request of the CBI for ensuring a fair trial.

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