Special CBI court to pronounce judgement in Sohrabuddin encounter case on December 21

A special CBI court in Mumbai will pronounce the judgement in Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case on Friday, December 21.

MUMBAI: A special CBI court in Mumbai will deliver the verdict in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case on Friday, December 21. 

The trial of 22 persons accused of murder, abduction and destruction of evidence began in November last year. 

In November 2005, gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh and his wife Kauser Bi were abducted by Gujarat's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) while enroute to Sangli in Maharashtra from Hyderabad and killed in an alleged fake encounter near Gandhinagar, says the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI. His wife too disappeared.

Prajapati, an aide of Shaikh and eyewitness to the encounter, was also allegedly killed by police at Chapri village in Gujarat's Banaskantha district in December 2006. 

In 2013, the CBI had charge-sheeted BJP chief Amit Shah and 18 others, including several police officers. 

A CBI court later gave Shah a clean chit in the case.

The fake encounter case was transferred to Mumbai in September 2012 on the request of the CBI which said it was necessary to ensure a fair trial. 

In 2013, the Supreme Court clubbed the Sheikh and Prajapati encounter cases.

In 2017, CBI court released former Gujarat Indian Police Service (IPS) officers D G Vanzara and Dinesh MN.