Nayeem, Sohrabuddin Encounters Linked: Congress

Leader Of Opposition in the Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Monday said that the encounter of renegade-naxalite-turned-gangster Mohammed Nayeemuddin may be linked to the Sohrabuddin encounter.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, Shabbir Ali said that several surprisingly murky revelations were emerging in cases related to Nayeemuddin and his gang.

He claimed that Nayeemuddin was a witness to the investigation into the Sohrabubbin case where he (Nayeem) went under the name "Kalimuddin". As per reports, the Gujarat police, in its investigation, had claimed that a "Kalimuddin" was on-board a Hyderabad-Sangli bus in November 2005 along with Sohrabuddin and Kauser Bi, after which they were allegedly abducted by policemen from Gujarat and united Andhra Pradesh.

Although the CBI investigation later claimed that it was not Kalimuddin but Tulasiram Prajapati, the then IGP Geetha Johri, who investigated the case, had stated that Kalimudddin, a police informant, was indeed a witness to the abduction of Sohrabuddin and Kauser Bi.

The IGP, in a curative petition filed in the Supreme Court, had reportedly stated, "It appears that Kalimuddin was in the People's War Group and had then turned a police informant. He was being protected by the then united Andhra Pradesh police as he was considered to be a resourceful informant for it and also for India's central intelligence."

She is also reported to have said that the CBI chargesheet contained a statement by Kalimuddin's sister Saleema Begum claiming that Kalimuddin had hosted Sohrabuddin and his wife in Hyderabad, and went under the name "Nayeemuddin".

Recalling BJP President Amit Shah's alleged involvement in the Sohrabuddin encounter, Shabbir Ali said, "Sohrabuddin's fake encounter is a high profile case involving Amit Shah. In July 2010, Shah was arrested and banned from entering Gujarat until 2012. He was later absolved of all charges in December 2014. Nayeem was one of the absconding accused in the Haren Pandya murder case. He was a major link in both the Haren Pandya and the Sohrabuddin cases. Coincidentally, Nayeem was killed just one day after PM Narendra Modi's visit to Telangana. There is obviously a link between all this," Shabbir Ali said.

Speaking on the alleged nexus between cops, politicians and Nayeem, Shabbir Ali said, "The Chief Minister should ensure a transparent and fair investigation into this case, and also ensure that no gets away with such malefactions. There are unconfirmed reports that many property documents seized from Nayeem's dens by the police are either being destroyed or misused. Several police officials and politicians are involved in Nayeem's case. This criminal-police and criminal-politician nexus should be exposed. It is time to end all these speculations," he said.

Shabbir Ali expressed his disappointment over the manner in which the SIT probe was being conducted.

"The SIT probe into Nayeem's case is going awry. Under any government, the SIT will act under the orders of the Chief Minister. One obviously cannot expect fairness amid political pressure. One cannot even know whether the SIT is even serious about finding out the truth. Therefore, the CM should immediately order a CBI investigation," he said.