Bombay high court reprieve for IPS officer in Sohrabuddin fake encounter case

Aggarwal had approached HC after the trial court rejected his discharge application on November 7.

In a reprieve for IPS officer Vipul Aggarwal, one of the accused in the fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati, the Bombay high court on Monday restrained the trial court from framing charges against him.

Sohrabuddin Sheikh with his wife Kauser Bi (HT FILE)

Justice AM Badar has, however, clarified that the restraint on framing charge does not mean stay on trial of other accused in the case. “Undisputedly, some of other co-accused are discharged by the trial court,” said the judge.

Aggarwal had approached HC after the trial court rejected his discharge application on November 7.

Shaikh, a local gangster was allegedly abducted by a Gujarat anti-terrorist squad on November 23, 2005 when he was travelling on a Hyderabad-Sangli bus with his wife Kausar Bi and Prajapati.

Three days later, Shaikh and Bi was killed in an alleged fake encounter near Gandhinagar. Aggarwal was the SP of the area where the alleged fake encounter took place.