CBI Enquiry
Despite the detailed nature of the Johri report, the Supreme Court felt impelled, given the allegations of involvement by senior politicians, that the case should be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation for investigation. Since 2007, the Gujarat government had strongly resisted these attempts.
Media pressure began building up, with calls from organizations such as Amnesty International. Eventually, on 12 January, 2010, the Supreme Court observed that "the facts surrounding Prajapati's death evokes strong suspicion that a deliberate attempt was made to destroy a human witness". The court then directed the CBI to take over the probe.
Subsequently, the CBI arrested senior Gujarat police officer Abhay Chudasama, who was charged with extortion in partnership with Sheikh. After Chudasama's arrest, the CBI also charged the now ex-home minister Shah with collusion.
Suspicion of political interference intensified after the evidence handed over to the CBI from the state investigations showed that 331 phone calls by Shah to the concerned police officers had been deleted from the records. After media reports revealed the original records of calls from Shah to Vanzara and other police officers executing the killings, the CBI acquired the original records, and ex-police chief O.P. Mathur, who was then Director of Raksha Shakti University, was indicted for deleting evidence. Shah was subsequently named as the "prime accused" in the case.
A CBI witness also claimed that they were paid Rs. 10 crores by R.K. Patni, the owner of RK marbles who was acquainted with Indian National Congress leaders, to eliminate Sheikh. But BJP MLAs Gulab Chand Kataria and Om Prakash Mathur from the neighbouring state of Rajasthan also got named in the case. Kataria, who visited Gujarat to lobby for the release of Rajasthan police officer Dinesh M.N. in 2007, denied all charges.
Read more about this topic: Sohrabuddin Sheikh Fake Encounter