Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case: Two more witnesses declared hostile

Rafiq alias Mohammad Hafiz and Firoz Khan alias Raju were examined by the prosecution on Friday.

Two people, co-accused with Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati in the murder case of gangster Hamidlala, were on Friday declared hostile by the prosecution in connection to the encounter case. Rafiq alias Mohammad Hafiz and Firoz Khan alias Raju were examined by the prosecution on Friday.

Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi (Ht file photo)

Shaikh had allegedly hatched the conspiracy to kill Hamid Lala, who headed a rival gang. Rafiq and Raju, in their statement, claimed that they were introduced to Shaikh by Azam Khan, a close aid of Shaikh and Prajapati.

The duo, who were lodged in the same jail with Prajapati, were key witnesses to prove that Prajapati was being threatened by the Gujarat and Rajasthan police.

However they refused to have met Shaikh and denied that Prajapati was under pressure. They claimed that as Prajapati was kept in a different barrack, they did interact with him.

Further, the two also denied to have given their statements to the central bureau of investigation (CBI). They claimed that CBI had called them for questioning but their statement wasn’t recorded.