Sohrabuddin encounter case: Witnesses say, Prajapati was in Rajasthan before couple’s kidnapping

The owner of the house where Tulsiram Prajapati lived in Rajasthan refuted prosecution’s case that Prajapati was witness to the abduction of Sohrabuddin Shaikh and his wife Kausarbi.

The prosecution on Tuesday received a setback in the Sohrabuddin encounter case.

Sohrabuddin Shaikh and his wife Kausarbi. (HT File)

The owner of the house where Tulsiram Prajapati lived in Rajasthan refuted prosecution’s case that Prajapati was witness to the abduction of Sohrabuddin Shaikh and his wife Kausarbi.

As per the prosecution, Prajapati travelled with the couple from Hyderabad to Sangli in a bus on November 22, 2005. It was alleged that the bus was stopped near Sangli and three were asked to alight. While Shaikh and his wife were taken to Gujarat, Prajapati was taken to Rajasthan.

The CBI said that Prajapati was killed in an encounter as he was a witness to the couple’s abduction. The CBI claimed that Rajasthan created an evidence to show that Prajapati was living in a house at Bhilwada in Rajasthan, by giving a false name.

The statement from the Shah family, the house owners, was taken. Komal Shah and his son Chandan were examined on Tuesday by the prosecution. The two denied giving any statement to CBI. They claimed that Prajapati was staying at their house 15 to 20 days before his arrest, which took place on November 26, 2005.

The two were not declared hostile but did not support the prosecution’s case. The evidence of the two negates the prosecution’s claim that Prajapati was the third person and a witness of abduction of Sohrabuddin and Kausarbi.

Meanwhile, the prosecution could not bring one of the key witnesses Salim Khan before the court. Khan is an advocate who represented Prajapati in several cases in Udaipur.

It was through him that Prajapati had moved several applications before courts about threats given to him after Sohrabuddin’s encounter.

The prosecution claimed that they could not contact him and would try to bring him in the next hearing. Khan had also sought protection from the court, claiming that he was threatened.