Didn’t know Gujarat cops were going to kill Sohrabuddin: Andhra Pradesh Police

The Gujarat ATS team,led by Rajkumar Pandian,which came looking for Sohrabuddin is reported to have been provided logistics support “unofficially” by at least seven senior IPS officers of Andhra. E Radhakrishnan,a Gujarat-cadre officer and former SP of Gandhinagar,who was posted at that time as DIG of CRPF,Hyderabad,is also reported to have provided help to the team.

The Gujarat CID,in its chargesheet,mentioned the role of seven police officials of Andhra,which included arranging for Pandian’s stay at the IPS officers’ mess,providing two Tata Sumos and at least 10 men who escorted the Gujarat team on the Hyderabad-Mumbai highway when the bus in which Sohrabuddin and his wife were travelling was intercepted. Lower ranking Andhra policemen were reportedly instructed by the Gujarat Police to halt traffic on the highway and maintain a distance of two-three kilometres between the vehicle carrying the Gujarat cops that followed the bus and intercepted it.

Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausar Bi had come to Hyderabad on November 19,2005,and were staying with a former Maoist-turned-police informer Mohammed Nayeemuddin and his wife Saleema. The CBI wanted to investigate if Nayeemuddin and Saleema,on the instructions of the Andhra Police,had invited Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi and then helped the Gujarat Police set the trap.

But after the CBI questioned Nayeemuddin’s son-in-law Mohammed Faheemuddin in May to know about the former’s whereabouts,all three of them went underground. The CBI suspected that Nayeemuddin and his wife provided information to the Gujarat Police about the travel plans of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausar Bi,giving details of the Hyderabad-Sangli bus registration plate number and seat numbers. Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi were picked up from the bus on the intervening night of November 22-23,2005,on the Hyderabad-Mumbai highway,at Tadola village in Bidar district.

When the Gujarat CID first investigated the Sohrabuddin encounter case,the investigating officer,Geeta Johri,had come to Hyderabad to speak to several senior police officers who arranged for Gujarat Police team’s stay here. “Several police vehicles were also provided by these officers to the Gujarat team. All this was done unofficially,” a source said.

After the Gujarat CID accused the Andhra Police of complicity,the late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy said none of the Andhra cops were involved in providing any kind of support to the Gujarat Police.

In April 2007,Johri interviewed IPS officers Rajiv Trivedi,T V Sashidhar Reddy and Anil Kumar to know the names of the police officers who provided logistics support to the Gujarat Police. Rajiv Trivedi was additional commissioner of police (Crime),Hyderabad,in November 2005 while T V Sashidhar Reddy was deputy commissioner of Police (Crime),Hyderabad.

Rajiv Trivedi is now posted as additional director at Andhra Pradesh Police Academy. “It would be inappropriate to comment on the issue now. Let the CBI finish its inquiry,” he said. T V Sashidhar Reddy is posted as SP of CM Security Group (Intelligence). Anil Kumar is DIG of Kurnool Range.