Close encounters

When the Supreme Court ordered an investigation into the death of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in 2006,the message sent out was clear: there could be more to this “encounter” than met the eye. Some of this message seems to have percolated through: the Gujarat police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) found the encounter to be cold-blooded murder and arrested three senior police officials,including D.G. Vanzara,a deputy inspector general of police. Justice,it seemed,was finally taking its course.

Or was it? The CID officer who had arrested the police trio was soon taken off the investigation. The CID ruled out the role of any politicians. Sohrabuddin’s brother holds that the chargesheet does not explain how Sohrabuddin’s wife Kausar Bi went missing,and the solicitor general punched holes in the Gujarat government’s version. The Supreme Court agreed. On Tuesday,more than four years after Sohrabuddin was killed,the country’s highest court has stated that there seems more to the case than the Gujarat police’s version of trigger-happy policemen hoping to earn “fame and name”. The Supreme Court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate the killing of Sohrabuddin and his wife “including the possibility of a larger conspiracy”.

Each twist in this case has been disquieting. First of course is the honour-for-killings scandal,in which police officers frame innocents as terrorists and kill them for reward. The second twist is the extent of the intimidation — Sohrabuddin’s wife is missing and was allegedly killed; the lone witness was killed off in an “encounter”. Third,and more worrying for the long term,is the tardy,possibly motivated investigation that has caused the Supreme Court to repeatedly intervene. With the case now being handled by the CBI,it is hoped that the court’s messages are heard. The repeated iteration of no-confidence in Gujarat’s state police by the country’s apex court must serve as a wake-up call. And the CBI — itself under fire for low-quality work — must pull up its own socks and bring this painful case to a just end.