BJP defence: Such inquiries will discourage policemen

The BJP scaled up its support to Amit Shah, a close aide of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, as the noose tightens around the former minister now charged with extortion and murder.

The BJP scaled up its support to Amit Shah, a close aide of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, as the noose tightens around the former minister now charged with extortion and murder.

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Shah is accused by the CBI of organising and facilitating the fake encounters of extortionist Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife and an aide.

During investigations — on the directions of the Supreme Court — the CBI has also collected evidence that suggest Shah may have been controlling the extortion racket managed by Sheikh and some Gujarat police officials.

Demonstrating Shah’s value in the BJP, president Nitin Gadkari held a press conference in Mumbai where he asked if such inquiries are launched into encounters, “then would police kill criminals?… Who will fight terrorism?”

“Patriotic police officers and their political bosses,” said Gadkari, were being “persecuted” by the CBI.

Gadkari accused the Congress of using the case to promote “vote bank politics ahead of the Bihar assembly polls”, but did not respond to the substance of the charges against Shah. “The BJP will face the legal challenge presented by the fabricated prosecution in court of law. I declare that the BJP also accepts the political challenge thrown by the Congress and will take the issue to the people of India.”

He alleged the CBI was not probing the role of Andhra Pradesh police in the encounter at the instance of the ruling Congress. “The then Andhra Pradesh government of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was equally involved in the arrest and encounter death of Sohrabuddin.”

A police team from Gujarat and Rajasthan — both states were then ruled by the BJP — had picked up the encounter victims from Andhra Pradesh.

Gadkari said the entire probe was a ploy of the Congress to divert attention from UPA’s failures. “The government has failed to tackle inflation, infiltration in Kashmir, the Naxal menace and even the foreign minister’s Pakistan visit has failed. The Congress strategy, being implemented through CBI, is clearly to vitiate the atmosphere against Shah,” he said.