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Unwarranted, says Rajasthan

Special Correspondent

GANDHINAGAR: The Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, in which two senior Gujarat and one Rajasthan IPS cadre police officers were arrested on Tuesday, seems to have created bad blood between the two BJP-ruled neighbouring States on Wednesday with the Rajasthan Government sharply reacting to the arrest.

Even as the three senior police officers were produced before the Ahmedabad Metropolitan Court and were remanded to seven-day police custody, a high-level delegation from Rajasthan rushed here to hold discussions with senior State Government and police officers to express the Government's indignation over the arrest of the Udaipur Range Superintendent of Police, M.N. Dinesh Kumar, who was claimed to be "present" at the time of the Sohrabuddin encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on November 26, 2005. Some more arrests of policemen of the two States connected with the alleged fake encounter are also expected soon, police sources said.

Even in Gujarat, the Pradesh Congress president, Bharat Solanki, the Union Textile Minister, Shankarsinh Waghela, and leaders of the Leftist and other parties demanded a CBI inquiry into the Sohrabuddin and other "encounters" during the Narendra Modi regime in the State.

Mr. Solanki and Mr. Waghela alleged that the "encounter specialist," the Deputy Inspector General of Police (Border Range), D.G. Vanjara, who then was the chief of the Anti-Terrorist Squad, and the Superintendent of Police (Intelligence), Rajkumar Pandian, along with the Rajasthan IPS officer, had been "sacrificed" by the Modi administration "to save the skin" of the Chief Minister and his Minister of State for Home, Amit Shah.

They alleged that not only Sohrabuddin, but all the 10 "encounters" during Mr. Vanjara as the ATS chief, in the name of alleged security threat to Mr. Modi and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, L.K. Advani, and other BJP and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders, were all "fake encounters" and carried out at the behest of Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah.

`Violation of procedures'

Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria accompanied by top officials flew into Ahmedabad from Jaipur by a special plane.Mr. Kataria had a meeting with Mr. Shah who was accompanied by the State Director General of Police, P.C. Pande and the Additional Director General of Police, State CID (Crime), O.P. Mathur. Emerging from the meeting, Mr. Kataria alleged serious violation of procedures in the arrest of their officer. Mr. Dinesh Kumar, he said, was "an officer of impeccable credentials" and his arrest was unwarranted.

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