Fake encounter: Sohrabuddin Sheikh's brother withdraws plea against Amit Shah

On December 30, 2014, Amit Shah got a major relief when a special CBI Court discharged him in the alleged staged shootout case related to Sohrabuddin Sheikh.

Ahmedabad: Rubabuddin Sheikh, brother of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, has withdrawn his petition challenging the discharge of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah from the alleged fake encounter case.

On December 30, 2014, Shah got a major relief when a special CBI Court discharged him in the alleged staged shootout case related to Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kauserbi Sheikh and witness Tulsiram Prajapati in Gujarat.

Rubabuddin sought withdrawal of his plea on grounds of ill health.

Sohrabuddin's brother Rubabuddin last month moved the Bombay High Court seeking to withdraw his petition challenging the discharge of BJP president by a Mumbai court in the case.

The application was filed in the court of Justice Anuja Prabhudesai seeking to withdraw his petition in which he had challenged Shah's discharge by the trial court in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter killing cases. Rubabuddin pleaded that he wanted to withdraw the petition as there was some "communication gap" with his lawyer.

Sohrabuddin, an alleged gangster whom the Gujarat police had claimed to have links to Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, and his wife Kausar Bi, were allegedly abducted by Gujarat ATS from Hyderabad on their way to Sangli in Maharashtra, according to prosecution in the trial court. Sohrabuddin was killed in the alleged fake encounter near Gandhinagar in November 2005 after which his wife had disappeared and was believed to have died.

Tulsiram, an aide of the alleged gangster and an eyewitness to the encounter, was also allegedly killed by police at Chapri village in Banaskantha district in Gujarat in December, 2006.

Shah was arrested in July 2010 and was forced to resign as minister, but he secured bail three months later on the condition that he would not enter Gujarat. He lived in New Delhi for the next couple of years.