AHMEDABAD: A special CBI court on Tuesday discharged two policemen accused in the 2003 Sadiq Jamal alleged fake encounter case, after observing there wasn't sufficient ground to proceed against them.
Bhavnagar resident Sadiq, who police claimed was a Lashkar-e Toiba operative out to kill then chief minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders, was killed in Naroda locality of city's outskirts on January 13, 2003.
Special CBI Judge B A Dave allowed the discharge pleas of RL Mavani, a sub inspector, and AS Yadav, a constable, and said their mere presence at the place of encounter, as alleged by CBI, and that too in obeying the order of a senior officer, is not sufficient to charge them for Sadiq's murder.
Mavani and Yadav moved the discharge pleas in August this year claiming they were falsely charge-sheeted by the CBI, which had accused them of being part of the encounter team.
The Gujarat High Court had, in its order on June 16, 2011, directed the city crime branch to file a FIR related to his killing, and then transferred the case to the CBI.
In its charge sheet filed in December, 2012, the CBI said the encounter was staged and part of a pre-planned conspiracy under which accused policemen took custody of Sadiq from their Mumbai counterparts on January 2, 2003, confined him to a bungalow in Shahibaug till January 13, and then killed him.
The CBI, in its charge sheet, named retired deputy SP Tarun Barot, JG Parmar (who died during pendency of trial) KM Vaghela, GH Gohil, Ajaypal Singh, Chatrasingh Chudasama as well as Mavani and Yadav.