A senior Hyderabad police officer and head of its special investigation team, who was among those spoken to recently by investigators in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh ‘fake encounter’ case, has opted out of a special unit set up to probe the May 18 blasts at the Mecca Masjid here.

Addl CP (Crimes) Rajeev Trivedi has written to his seniors and the AP government that it would be inappropriate for him to be part of the investigation. Sources said he cited criticism from AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi as a primary reason for opting out.

Credited with cracking the October 12, 2005 bomb blast case, Trivedi is seen as a tough officer. Early this May, Geeta Johri, who’s heading the Gujarat fake encounter probe, had sought information from Trivedi on the alleged role of Andhra police in the case. Owaisi alleged Trivedi and former commissioner A K Mohanty were involved in the fake encounter case.