Brothers of Sohrabuddin Shaikh appear in court on Saturday. (Express Photo by Prashant Nadkar) Brothers of Sohrabuddin Shaikh appear in court on Saturday. (Express Photo by Prashant Nadkar) DEPOSING AFTER taking a nearly 30-minute nap in the courtroom, Rubabuddin Shaikh, brother of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, who was allegedly killed in a staged encounter in 2005, told the sessions court on Saturday that he had never met Azam Khan and denied a crucial part of the “statement” he had given to the CBI in 2010. He also alleged that Tulsiram Prajapati, allegedly killed in a fake encounter in 2006, had told him that Sohrabuddin was killed in front of him in Gujarat in 2005. Azam Khan is a key witness in Sohrabuddin’s alleged encounter case and an inmate of his associate Tulsiram Prajapati. Earlier this month, Khan had deposed as a prosecution witness in the Sohrabuddin case. Policemen from Rajasthan and Gujarat are facing trial for the alleged encounters of Sohrabuddin and Tulsiram and the alleged murder of Sohrabuddin’s wife, Kausarbi. Rubabuddin, who appeared before the court on Saturday after multiple summons and warrants, told the court that he had not understood what the CBI had recorded and specifically denied the last paragraph of his statement. He also claimed that Kausarbi was pregnant at the time of her death and was raped before being killed. These were not part of his earlier statements. The last paragraph of his statement recorded in 2010 had said; “Sometime in the middle of 2009, Azam Khan had come to my brother Nayamuddin at my residence and told that Abhay Chudasama, DCP, Ahmedabad had asked to withdraw the petition filed by me in the Supreme Court. He also told that Chudasama had promised to give Rs 50 lakh to us if I withdrew the petition… Nayamuddin declined again and said that I will not withdraw the petition at any cost. On hearing this, Chudasama got infuriated and threatened he (Nayamuddin) would face the same fate as Sohrabuddin if he did not withdraw the petition. He also told Nayamuddin that Amitbhai (Amit Shah) was very angry with us and he can get us eliminated in Madhya Pradesh itself as the government in MP was of their party only (sic).” Chudasama, a Gujarat police officer and Amit Shah, then MoS (Home) in Gujarat, have both been discharged from the case in 2015 and 2014, respectively. After Shah’s discharge, Rubabuddin had appealed against it before the Bombay High Court but withdrew the plea in November 2015. “I have never met Azam Khan. The CBI officer has mentioned about some interaction of me with him. I could not understand what was written in my statement about Rs 50 lakh sought to withdraw my petition,” Rubabuddin said on Saturday. Rubabuddin began his deposition around 11.15 am with a request from his lawyer Gautam Tiwari that he should be allowed regular breaks as he suffers from diabetes and other ailments. After the first few questions were put forth by the defence advocate, Rubabuddin said that he was feeling uneasy and sought to be examined by a doctor. The doctor available at the court examined him and told the court that he was fit. Rubabuddin then told the court that he was not feeling well and sought to take a nap. Special Judge S J Sharma permitted Rubabuddin to lie down on one of the benches, suspending proceedings for the time being even as defence advocate S P Raju alleged that he was “feigning sickness”. Earlier in the day, during his examination-in-chief, Rubabuddin told the court that he had met Tulsiram in Ujjain court before his death on December 28, 2006. He claimed that Tulsiram had told him that he was abducted along with Sohrabuddin and Kausarbi from a luxury bus when they were traveling from Hyderabad to Sangli on November 23, 2005. He added that Tulsiram told him that the three were then taken to Disha farmhouse in Gujarat and that Sohrabuddin was killed in front of him. This is contradictory to his earlier statement as well as the CBI’s case according to which, Tulsiram was taken separately to Rajasthan while Sohrabuddin, who was shown to be a Lashkar-e-Toiba fugitive, was shown to have been killed in an encounter on November 26, 2005 in Ahmedabad. Rubabuddin’s claim that he was told by his younger brother Nayamuddin that Tulsiram was present in the luxury bus is contrary to Nayamuddin’s deposition before the court last month that CBI had “planted” Tulsiram in the abduction story though he was not present with Sohrabuddin and Kausarbi in the bus. On his claim that he had heard that Kausarbi was raped before being killed and was also pregnant, Rubabuddin said: “I had told the CBI about this but they did not write it or removed it later. I do not know.” He alleged that the CBI had neither probed what exactly was done to her nor where and when she was killed. Further, Rubabuddin told the court that he was not satisfied with the way the CBI had conducted the trial, claiming that the agency was working for the accused. He demanded action against the hostile witnesses. In an application filed before the court, Rubabuddin sought to summon four witnesses — Rajnish Rai, a Gujarat IPS officer, who had initially probed the case; his brother Shahnawazuddin, who has been summoned but has not appeared before the court; as well as Raman Patel and Dashrath Patel, owners of Popular Builders in Gujarat. Meanwhile, Tulsiram’s mother, Narmadabai Prajapati, against whom a non-bailable warrant has been issued, again failed to appear before the court. The court said that since the case is “practically completed” and more than sufficient chances have been given to the prosecution to make her appear before it, the case should proceed. Narmadabai’s lawyer told the court that she was unwell and would appear before it on the next date of hearing. For all the latest Mumbai News, download Indian Express App

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