Sohrabuddin Shaikh Encounter Case: All 22 accused acquitted due to lack of evidence

New Delhi : A special CBI court has acquitted all 22 accused in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case of 2005 due to lack of evidence.

Special CBI judge SJ Sharma delivered the verdict and said that the witnesses and proof were not satisfactory to prove conspiracy and murder.

“Government machinery and prosecution put in a lot of effort, 210 witnesses were brought but satisfactory evidence didn't come and witnesses turned hostile. No fault of prosecutor if witnesses don't speak,” the judge said.

Out of all accused in the matter, 21 are the junior rank police officer from Rajasthan and Gujarat. The other was the owner of a farmhouse in Gujarat where Shaikh and Kausar Bi were illegally detained before they were allegedly killed.

Shaikh was killed in an alleged fake encounter on November 26, 2005 near Ahmedabad. His wife was killed three days later and her body was disposed of, the CBI said.