Sohrab case: CBI to grill top cop Geetha

The CBI,which began investigation into the encounter case following the Supreme court order in January,has already questioned Johri twice before.

She is under the scanner for having tampered with the evidence,which is a charge having extremely serious consequences.

The apex court,while transferring the case to CBI,had minced no words in expressing displeasure at the failure of the state police’s Special Investigation Team,headed by Inspector General of Police Johri,to identify the seven Andhra Pradesh police personnel who assisted the local police in the fake encounter.

Johri is in Britain at present and is expected to come back on August 6.

The Supreme Court had also come down heavily on the Gujarat police for failing to conduct impartial investigations and attempting to “mislead” the apex court by filing conflicting Action Taken Reports (ATRs)in the case.

It had further said that while one of the investigating officers V L Solanki was proceeding in the right direction,Johri had not been carrying out the investigation in the right manner.

The court has said in its January 12 order that Johri had not made any reference to the second report of Solanki,and was not forwarded to this Court.

The court observed that Johri mentioning the criminal background of Sohrabbuddin and the discussion among the accused officers concerning Sohrabbuddin was meant to obfuscate the enquiry.

The CBI had yesterday summoned former state DGP P C Pandey and asked him to appear before it on August 11. Pandey was the DGP when the state CID was investigating the fake encounter case. There have been allegations that some police officials of Gujarat had tried to influence the investigation into the incident.