Disgraced Shah Re-appears, Arrested, Jailed
Gandhinagar/Ahmedabad, July 25 (IANS) On the run for three days, Gujarat's disgraced former minister Amit Shah was sent to 14-day judicial custody Sunday over an alleged Islamist's murder, hours after he made a dramatic appearance before the media and surrendered to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The drama lasted just about five hours from the time Shah walked into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in Ahmedabad at 11.35 a.m. and angrily denied the charges that he was involved in the 2005 killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, an alleged Lakshar-e-Taiba activist.
After making a detailed defence of his case and answering a flurry of questions from journalists, the close aide to Chief Minister Narendra Modi drove to the CBI camp office in the state capital Gandhinagar, about 35 km away, accompanied by a large contingent of supporters.
Once the CBI formally arrested him, the process lasting only a few minutes, he was driven back to Ahmedabad where he was taken to the house of CBI judge A.Y. Dave.
Dave ordered Shah's judicial custody for 14 days as a large number of BJP activists ringed his house shouting slogans hailing the man who quit as minister Saturday amid a hunt for him.
The CBI, which surprisingly did not demand for Shah's remand after having summoned him earlier to question him, said it would take his custody if and when required.
Sunday's developments marked a new turn in the case of Sohrabuddin Sheikh that has led to the arrest and jailing of 15 police officers including three from the Indian Police Service.
All of them are accused of conspiring to kill the man in cold blood. His wife has since disappeared, and the chargesheet against them says that she was murdered and her body burnt to destroy evidence.
Shah's arrest has seriously strained relations between the BJP and the Congress-led government, with the BJP accusing the latter of using the CBI to target opposition parties.
The BJP also charged the Congress with "vote-bank politics" - an euphemism to mean the Congress was trying to woo Muslims, India's largest minority.
Earlier Sunday, Gujarat BJP president R.C. Fardu was addressing a press conference at his office when a confident looking Shah suddenly walked in, stunning many of his colleagues and the media alike.
Accused of ordering the killing of Sheikh in a staged gun battle near Ahmedabad in November 2005, Shah insisted: "The accusations against me are fabricated, politically motivated and framed on the behest of the Congress government."
Shah explained that he ignored the summons to appear in the CBI office Thursday and Friday because he was convinced the 3,000-strong chargesheet against him had been prepared in advance and his questioning was to be a sham.
He said he did not fear arrest. "I have full faith in the judiciary and want to say that this is a conspiracy and misuse of power by the Congress to come in power in Gujarat."
Shah had sought anticipatory bail Friday but the plea was rejected by the court.
Shah insisted that Rajasthan resident Sohrabuddin was a terrorist, pointing out that the Gujarat Police seized 46 AK-47s, 100 grenades and 100,000 ammunition from a well in his house.
He said while there has been 1,700 "encounters" -- suspected fake gun battles -- all over India, only those which took place in Gujarat were now being investigated.
The Congress hit back, accusing the BJP of making Shah a scapegoat because his interrogation would lead to Chief Minister Modi.
Amit Shah Taken into Custody, Says Allegations Fabricated
Gandhinagar/Ahmedabad, Jul 25 (IANS): Former Gujarat minister Amit Shah, charged with involvement in the 2005 killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a staged shootout, was taken into custody by the CBI in Gandhinagar Sunday.
Shah, who was missing since Thursday, earlier surfaced dramatically at a press conference of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Ahmedabad in the morning and said the allegations against him were fabricated.
Shah had walked in while BJP state unit chief R.C. Fardu was addressing the press.
Shah, who has been charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), said he was being framed by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in New Delhi in a desperate bid to 'counter' the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat.
He said he would go to the CBI court to surrender.
"The accusations against me are fabricated, politically motivated and framed on the behest of the Congress government," Shah told reporters.
He pointed out that the CBI had submitted a charge sheet of 30,000 pages within a day, even though he had not appeared before the agency. "That means my summons were not linked to the charge sheet," he added.
The minister also said that the summons showed that he was alleged to have issued threats, but the chargesheet seems to have accused him of murder.
Shah said that he was ready to "face all action and not scared of being arrested". "I have full faith in judiciary and just want to say that it's a conspiracy by Congress and misuse of power by the Congress to come in power in Gujarat," Shah asserted.
He claimed that Sohrabuddin was a terrorist, who was involved in conspiracy against the nation. "Congress calls Sohrabuddin as a petty criminal but Gujarat Police has recovered 46 AK-47s, 100 hand grenades and 100,000 ammunition from the well in his house."
Gujarat's former minister of state for home asked why staged shootouts only in Gujarat were being investigated. "There have been 1,700 encounters all over the country… and targeting only the encounters in Gujarat is a Congress conspiracy," he claimed.
He demanded that his submission before the CBI should be "videographed". "When this matter comes before court, I am sure that none of the claims against me will stand," Shah said.
Shah submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Narendra Modi Saturday.