GANDHINAGAR: Monday's arrest of constable Ajay Parmar has raised eyebrows in police circles because the entire Sohrabuddin fake encounter case was supposed to be based on his "confessional statement" given on January 17, 2007 to chief investigating officer Geetha Johri.

Parmar was a former personal attaché of the arrested IPS officer Rajkumar Pandian and also part of the Anti-Terrorist Squad team headed by the arrested Deputy Inspector-General D.G. Vanzara. He gave the police graphic details of how the team went from Ahmedabad to Hyderabad, stayed at the CISF mess there, how the bus in which Sohrabuddin and others were travelling was chased by the Gujarat police and how Sohrabuddin and his wife were abducted and brought to Ahmedabad.

He also told the police about the farmhouse at Koba, near Gandhinagar, where the couple were kept for two days and how Sohrabuddin was later shot dead in a fake encounter. It was only from Parmar's statement that the investigating officers came to know about the murder of Kausarbi.

In his statement, Parmar also told the police that he was later informed by constable Nathusinh Jadeja, who was Vanzara's driver, how Kausarbi was murdered in another farmhouse at Koba, where she was shifted after the killing of Sohrabuddin, and the body burnt at Illol, Vanzara's native village.

Police circles are surprised at the arrest of Parmar, who was expected to turn approver during the trial and support the case. His statement, given to a police officer without the presence of a magistrate as required under Section 164 Cr.PC, will have no legal validity in court in case he turns hostile. In that event, the entire case may fall flat. However, some police sources feel that the arrest could be to ensure Parmar's safety.

Santram Sharma, another policeman arrested on Monday, is believed to have driven the Qualis, provided to the ATS by a Porbandar-based private company dealing in fish export, which took the ATS team to Hyderabad and returned with Sohrabuddin and Kausarbi.

The Qualis owner claimed that the car had been at Vanzara's disposal for the last four years and he was not aware of the purposes it was being used for. It was also not clear why the car was kept at Vanzara's disposal for such a long time though many witnesses confirmed that the vehicle was often seen doing the rounds in Gandhinagar.

The third policeman arrested on Monday, N.H. Dabhi, was earlier said to be absconding. He was also believed to be part of the police team that picked up Sohrabuddin on the Hyderabad-Sangli highway.

Meanwhile, digging operations have been completed at Illol, where the CID (crime) team led by Ms. Johri, descended on Sunday, to find clues to Kausarbi's murder.

Some more samples were claimed to have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory here, but the outcome of the tests was still not known.

CD on funeral

A video CD on the funeral procession of Sohrabuddin in his village in Madhya Pradesh was found doing the rounds in Gandhinagar. The Bharatiya Janata Party was alleged to be behind the release of the CD, in which the processionists were heard shouting anti-India slogans to drive home the ruling party's arguments that Sohrabuddin was a "terrorist and anti-national" and the police were not to be faulted for the encounter.

Launching an offensive to counter the Congress campaign against Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the state BJP president Purshottam Rupala said the Sohrabuddin episode would not help the Congress win the coming Assembly elections.

In his first comment since the controversy hit the headlines with the arrest of three IPS officers on April 24, Mr. Rupala said in Vadodara that the people were with Mr. Modi for his contribution to the development of the State and for the safety and security of the masses against terror threats.

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