Mumbai: With two more prosecution witnesses turning hostile in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati alleged fake encounter cases, the number of such witnesses has gone up to 85. Krishna Tripati and Mahihpal Singh Both deposed before CBI judge SJ Sharma.
Sohrabuddin Sheik and his wife Kausar Bi were allegedly abducted by the Gujarat police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad from Hyderabad on their way to Sangli in Maharashtra in November 2005. According to the CBI, Shaikh was killed in a fake encounter and Kausar Bi too was killed later. Shaikh’s aide Prajapati, who was said to be a witness to the encounter, was allegedly killed by police in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district in December 2006. Charge sheet was filed against 38 persons for the alleged fake encounters. However, 15 of them were discharged by the trial court for lack of evidence.