Modi aide Amit Shah resigns, still untraceable

Mangalore Today News Network

Gujarat, July 24: Facing arrest on charges of murder and kidnapping, Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Amit Shah, a close associate of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, resigned from the government on Saturday but remained untraceable for the CBI. Forty six-year-old Shah, who has been slapped  kidnapping in the fake encounter killing of alleged gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi in 2005, sent his resignation to Modi’s residence this morning, which will be accepted, the Chief Minister said this morning on arrival in Delhi.

 

 

Modi, who is in New Delhi to attend a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) meeting announced Shah’s resignation but contended that he was "completely innocent" and that the charges against him were "politically motivated" by the Congress government at the Centre.

The resignation of a man, considered a very close associate of Modi, did not not, however, impress the Congress which said it was "too little, too late".

The resignation comes after resisting it for days and weeks was not "graceful and voluntary", said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singh.

For the BJP top leadership and Modi to fully justify Shah’s actions  showed there was no no "contrition, apology or acceptance" on their part, he said adding this was contempt of court.

However,  BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar contended that Shah should be congratulated for submitting his resignation and was only availing all options before law to face charges that "are well known to be false and concocted".

Meanwhile, CBI continued its search for Shah, who along with two other accused accused Yashpal Chudasama and Ajay Patel, have gone underground.

"All three are key accused in the fake encounter case and we are searching for them," CBI officials said in Ahmedabad.

Teams from the Central agency, which filed a charge sheet in the case yesterday, are searching for the accused in  various locations, they added.

Shah was exploring legal options after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Special CBI Court on Friday, sources close to the minister said.

The charge sheet has named Shah as a key accused along with IPS officers D G Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian, M N Dinesh and Abhay Chudasama. In all, 15 accused have been named.

According to the charge sheet, it was Shah who had entrusted the task of eliminating Sheikh, an alleged gangster, to Vanzara, Pandia and Chudasama. Sheikh was killed in an encounter near New Delhi on November 26, 2005.

The CBI is conducting a fresh probe into the encounter on the directions of the Supreme Court.

Shah’s anticipatory bail application before the CBI court yesterday was rejected and his lawyers were planning to approach the Gujarat High Court.

The CBI started its efforts to look for him after he refused to turn up before the agency’s investigating team by the deadline of 1 PM set on Friday for his questioning.

In Delhi, Modi attacking the Congress and its government at the Centre of "fully misusing" the CBI saying the case against Shah was a revenge for its loss in the 2007 Assembly polls when it had made Sohrabuddin a national hero.

This was a politically motivated action against Amit Shah and the BJP government in Gujarat to "corner" it and to put obstacles in development work it was carrying out, he said.

Modi said the BJP would go to the people along with those fighting the forces of terror.

"The Congress government at the Centre was fully using the CBI to target political rivals after it failed on all fronts," Modi said.

"The government failed on the prices issue and had to face an unprecedented bandh on the issue. Srinagar is on fire and the government came back fully beaten at the Indo-Pak dialogue in Islamabad and the Maoists were replying by bullets in the fight in which innocent people were killed".

In Ahmedabad, officials in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said Shah’s resignation has been accepted by Modi.

Shah’s anticipatory bail plea on Friday shortly after he failed to show up before the CBI was rejected by Special CBI court judge G K Upadhaya.

CBI also sent teams to the office and residences of the senior BJP leader in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad and recorded statements of Shah’s staff but could not locate him.

The probe agency tightened the noose around Shah, who has been named as an accused along with 14 others including some IPS officers in the charge sheet filed yesterday in the special CBI court.

 

Amith Shah resigns

New Delhi, July 24 : Facing charges of murder and arrest, Gujarat minister of state for home Amit Shah, a close associate of chief minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday resigned from the state ministry.

"As I landed here in Delhi, I have information that Amit Shah’s resignation has reached my residence in Gandhinagar. On return, I will accept it and complete the formalities," Modi, who is here to attend the National Development Council meeting, said.

Asked by reporters whether the resignation amounted to accepting that Shah was guilty, Modi said, "He was accepting it because under the Constitution, certain formalities have to be fulfilled".

He said Shah would fight the issue legally and expressed confidence that judiciary would provide him justice.

Shah’s resignation comes a day after CBI charged him with kidnapping and murder of alleged gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi in November 2005.

Though Shah has resigned still nothing was clear about his whereabouts.

The CBI, which filed the chargesheet on Friday before a court in Ahmedabad, has already sent teams for arresting him after he refused to appear before an agency team by Friday’s 1pm deadline for questioning.

Shah’s anticipatory bail application before the CBI court on Friday was rejected and his lawyers were planning to approach the Gujarat High Court.

Attacking the Congress, Modi said, "The case against Shah was a revenge for its loss in the 2007 assembly polls when it had made Sohrabuddin a hero. This was a politically motivated action against Amit Shah and the BJP government in Gujarat to corner it and to put obstacles in development work it was carrying out".

He said, "Shah is completely innocent and the charges against him are fabricated. The CBI is being misused by the Congress against its political rival".

He said the BJP would go to the people along with those fighting the forces of terror.

Modi said the Congress and central government had completely "failed" in all fronts in facing the challenges of Kashmir, Maoists and problems from Pakistan.

"The Congress government at the Centre was fully using the CBI to target political rivals after it failed on all fronts," Modi said.

He said, "The government failed on the prices issue and was faced with an unprecedented bandh. Srinagar is on fire and the government came back fully beaten at the Indo-Pak dialogue in Islamabad and the Maoists were replying by bullets in the fight in which innocent people were killed".

In Ahmedabad, officials in the chief minister’s office (CMO) said Shah’s resignation has been accepted by Modi.

Shah had failed to appear before the CBI on Friday for questioning for the second time in two days following summons issued twice.

Shah’s anticipatory bail plea shortly after he failed to show up before the CBI was on Friday rejected by special CBI court judge G K Upadhaya.

CBI also sent teams to the office and residences of the senior BJP leader in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad and recorded statements of Shah’s staff but could not locate him.

The probe agency tightened the noose around Shah, who has been named as an accused along with 14 others including some IPS officers in the chargesheet filed on Friday in the special CBI court.

Shah has been listed as accused number 13 and the chargesheet notes he has not been arrested.

A CBI statement said the 15 accused were booked in the fake encounter of Sohrabuddin and for brutally killing his wife Kausarbi. The CBI probe was spread over five states--Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

About the summons to Shah, the statement said, "He did not appear and hence chargesheet was filed without his examination."

Besides the murder charge, the other charges against all the 15 accused included criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement, kidnapping and abducting to murder, extortion and destruction of evidence under various IPC sections.

The CBI is conducting a fresh probe into the November 26, 2005 encounter at the behest of the Supreme Court after questions were raised on the investigations by the Gujarat police. Sheikh, an alleged gangster, was killed in an alleged fake encounter by Gujarat Police.

The accused included IPS officers Abhay Chudasama, D B Vanzara, Dinesh M N and Rajkumar Pandian and eight other policemen. All of them are under arrest.

"Yes, we have sent teams," CBI sources said but avoided a direct reply when asked whether teams have been sent to arrest Shah.